The war in Ukraine has led to a dramatic change in defence approaches in all European countries. First and foremost, spending on arms and ammunition has increased. Most EU countries rely on the United States and its powerful military-industrial complex. However, there is at least one country that relies on the rapid growth of its own military-industrial potential, and that is Turkey. And recent reports from there suggest that Ankara is succeeding. Military expert Mykhailo Zhyrokhov has collected the available information on this topic and has analysed for Mind how such militarization will affect the overall geopolitical situation in the region.
On 18 April, the first prototype of the Bayraktar KIZILELMA jet combat unmanned aerial vehicle made its fifth test flight. For the first time, the drone was able to retract its landing gear in the air, which allowed it to be tested at higher speeds. Currently, the Turkish drone is flying with a Ukrainian-made AI-25TLT afterburner engine, with which it cannot reach speeds of more than 900 km/h. In the future, a supersonic modification of the KIZILELMA-B with AI-322F is planned, with the TF6000 engine being developed in Turkey. According to the developer's official data, the maximum take-off weight of the aircraft is 6000 kg with a payload of 1500 kg. But recently, the Turkish press reported that KIZILELMA will weigh up to 8,500 kg.
Baykar says that serial production of the Bayraktar KIZILELMA is expected to begin in 2024. The customers for these drones will be not only the Air Force but also the Turkish Navy, which plans to use them, in particular, from the deck of Anadolu amphibious assault ships.
The first such ship (L-400 Anadolu) was solemnly commissioned into the Turkish Navy on 10 April this year. Before the commissioning ceremony, samples of aircraft that can be operated from the ship were placed on its deck.
Among them, in addition to helicopters and the new Bayraktar TB3 reconnaissance and strike drone weighing 1,450 kg and powered by a Turkish PD170 diesel engine, the second Bayraktar KIZILELMA, which was recently built, was also demonstrated. Flight tests of such drones at Anadolu are scheduled to begin in 2025. And, to all appearances, the Turks are not planning to stop with Anadolu.
On 23 April, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced at the opening ceremony of a sports complex in Sakarya Turkey's intention to build a new aircraft carrier twice as large as the recently commissioned one.
On the same day, Erdoğan took part in a ceremony to hand over to the Turkish Army Command for testing the first two samples of the main tank of the national Turkish development Altay, manufactured by BMC Otomotiv Sanayi ve Ticaret A. Ş. in the so-called T1 version (actually, the next prototypes).
At the ceremony, it was announced that both samples will be tested for one and a half to two years, after which the mass production of Altay for the Turkish army by the Navy company at the Sakarya-Arifiye facility should finally begin.
A little earlier, on 22 April, a prototype of the T625 Gökbey multipurpose helicopter, which is equipped with two Turkish-designed TS1400 turbofan engines with a capacity of 1400 hp, made its first flight at the airfield of the Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) in Ankara. The helicopter has been under development since 2010 under contracts with the Turkish Defence Industries Directorate as part of the Turkish Light Utility Helicopter (TLUH, the project was previously known as Özgün) programme. The government funds the development.
The helicopter is intended for civil and military use. Initially, it was announced as a "five-tonne class" helicopter, but eventually received the T625 index. It officially stands for "six-tonne – twin-engine – five-blade".
In its civilian version, the T625 can carry up to 12 passengers plus two crew members. Interestingly, the helicopter's design is similar to that of the Italian company Leonardo Helicopter (formerly AgustaWestland), which is why some Western experts have talked about the participation of Italian engineers in this project.
On 25 April, another prototype of local aircraft, the Hürjet supersonic training and light combat aircraft, made its first flight. The programme was approved by the Turkish government in November 2017, and the contract for full-scale development was granted in July 2018. The first prototype was rolled out on 23 December 2022. On 30 January 2023, the first engine start was made, and on 18 March, the first prototype started steering and testing. A total of two prototypes are planned for flight testing and two more for static testing.
Finally, on 28 April, the first prototype of the promising Turkish combat helicopter T929 ATAK-2, which is being developed by the same state-owned Turkish Aerospace Industrie, made its first flight. The new helicopter is intended to add to, and eventually replace, the much lighter T129 ATAK combat helicopter of approximately 5-tonne take-off weight class currently in production at TAI. It is a licensed version of the Italian AW129 helicopter manufactured by Leonardo (AgustaWestland).
TAI announced the launch of a programme to develop a heavier combat helicopter than the T129 ATAK, codenamed ATAK-2, back in 2017. Initially, it was planned to create a vehicle of approximately 6–7 tonnes using the TAI carrier system of the T625 multipurpose helicopter, also of 6-tonne class.
However, later, due to the growing requirements of the military, the ATAK-2 advanced combat helicopter, codenamed T929, became a 10-tonne class aircraft (i.e., comparable to the Boeing AH-64 Apache). It was equipped with an entirely new bearing system and two more powerful turbofan engines, which were chosen (at least for prototypes) as TV3-117VMA-SBM1V-01T engines with a take-off capacity of 2,500 hp produced by Motor-Sich JSC.
Such an increase in Turkey's military capabilities could lead to serious changes in the military situation in the Black Sea and the Eastern Mediterranean. Especially against the backdrop of the fact that sooner or later russia will be forced to withdraw from Syria, and therefore Turkey is preparing to replace its grouping. The situation is similar in Libya, where Erdoğan supports one of the warring parties.
It is also worth noting that such a rapid development of the Turkish defence industry can be extremely useful for our domestic defence companies. After all, most of the projects have a Ukrainian component, primarily aircraft engines, as well as various units and parts.
Moreover, there is already a fairly large number of Turkish weapons in service in Ukraine. Here, in addition to Bayraktar TB2 and Mini-Bayraktar drones, we should also mention BMC Kirpi armoured vehicles (at least 200 of them have been delivered since 2022), and Roketsan MCL MLRS with TRLG-230 precision-guided missiles with a range of up to 70 km.