ANKARA — Turkish defense electronics specialist Aselsan, the country's biggest defense company, on Monday inaugurated a $157 million plant in Golbasi near Ankara.
The plant will specialize in radars and electronic warfare (EW) suites for land, air, naval, space and unmanned platforms, the company said.
It said The new plant, first planned in 2012, will feature integration and test fields and specialize in module designing and production for radar and EW systems.
The Aselsan's high-profile inauguration ceremony was attended by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, Defense Minister Ismet Yilmaz and chief of the military General Staff Gen. Necdet Ozel.
Speaking at the ceremony, Yilmaz said that a particular speciality of Aselsan's new production facility will be to produce "modules which are one of the fundamental parts of radar and electronic warfare systems whose procurement from foreign sources depend on strict restrictions."
Hasan Canbolat, Aselsan's board chairman, said that the plant marks the fact that Turkey is one of the few countries that does which do not rely on foreign technology in radars and EW suites.
He said that Aselsan alone accounted for 34 percent of the entire research and development activity across in Turkey's defense industry. Aselsan has invested in five plants in and outside Turkey over the past three years.
Email: bbekdil@defensenews.com
Burak Ege Bekdil was the Turkey correspondent for Defense News.
