Türkiye aims to enter top 10 in global defense exports: President Erdogan

• New Roketsan facilities in capital Ankara set to ramp up production of air defense and missile systems, says president

Türkiye’s main defense industry objective in the days ahead is to produce high-tech products more quickly, more effectively, and in greater quantities, vaulting it into the global top 10 of defense exporters, said the nation’s president on Tuesday.

Speaking at the opening of Roketsan’s new facilities in the capital Ankara, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Türkiye aims to reach its target of $11 billion in defense and aerospace exports in 2028, putting it in the ranks of the world’s top 10 in defense exporters.

Erdogan also said Türkiye’s defense exports have ballooned from just $248 million in 2002 to over $10 billion last year. In the first quarter of 2026, he said, defense and aerospace exports rose 12.1% from a year earlier to $1.91 billion.

New Roketsan facilities to boost missile, air defense output

Türkiye crossed another major threshold toward full defense independence, as new Roketsan facilities totaling $3 billion were inaugurated and a new missile integration site broke ground, he said.

Erdogan also said the new infrastructure established for air defense systems and missile projects would further enhance the deterrent power of the Turkish Armed Forces.

“With the systems that make up the striking power of the Steel Dome reaching a higher production tempo, we will further strengthen our air defense architecture,” Erdogan said.

He said the investments would strengthen the country’s layered air defense system, boost its strategic capabilities, and reinforce its cruise and ballistic missile capacity, while also accelerating serial production and research and development.

Steel Dome is Türkiye’s integrated layered air defense architecture, bringing together domestically developed radar, missile, electronic warfare, and command systems to protect its airspace from threats at multiple altitudes and ranges.

He said Türkiye now holds a position in the defense industry that is “admired around the world.”

“Today, Türkiye is a country that protects its own airspace, equips its own platforms, and develops its own munitions. We are doing all this with our own human resources,” he said.

Erdogan also said Türkiye is among the founding actors of a new order in which rules and processes are being reshaped, and that the country is helping determine the course of events both on the ground and in technology.