ASELSAN took part in NATO's project! Turkish signature for air defense
Founded in 1975 in order to meet the communication needs of the Turkish Armed Forces following the US arms embargo decision against Turkey following the Cyprus Peace Operation, ASELSAN has become one of the five companies to which NATO has entrusted its air system architecture in the 50 years that have passed. NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) has signed a framework agreement with five companies including ASELSAN in the new process it is conducting for the Modular Air Defense (Ground Based Air Defense - GBAD) Concept Phase. The fact that ASELSAN takes part in this study with global defense giants such as Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Lockheed Martin UK, Raytheon and Thales LAS means confirmation of Turkey’s technological capabilities in the field of air defense on an international scale. President of Defense Industries Prof. Haluk Görgün, while evaluating ASELSAN's success to Milliyet, said, "This agreement is a strong manifestation of our country's engineering capacity, technological depth and strategic reliability. This development reveals not only ASELSAN's but also the entire Turkish defense industry's level, vision and global-scale capability."
Within the scope of the agreement signed with NSPA, ASELSAN will work on the concept study (system architecture) together with other contractors in the first phase. The study outputs are planned to be delivered in mid-September and the most suitable system architectures will be evaluated based on these deliveries.
The need for common architecture
While the HİSAR air defense system is used in Turkey, some countries prefer Patriot, while others prefer different solutions. It is important to create a common architectural framework to ensure the interoperability of these systems in the future. ASELSAN's direct contribution to the process also strengthens Turkey's identity as a technology developer.
'NATO uses 75 percent of what we produce'
Prof. Dr. Görgün, in his statement following the adoption of the European Security Action Plan (SAFE), stated that Turkey contributes to NATO not only through strategic compliance but also through unique capability development and technological innovations, and said: “As the Presidency of Defense Industries, we are currently conducting more than 1,100 active procurement and R&D programs. I would like to proudly state that today the Turkish defense industry is the 11th largest exporter in the world and approximately 75 percent of the systems we produce, including deliveries made to the Turkish Armed Forces, are used by NATO forces.”
It stands out in many technologies
■ HİSAR A+ and HİSAR O+: Short and medium range air defense missile systems.
■ KAAN Radar: Developed by ASELSAN, this land radar system was designed to be used in defensive operations by detecting aircraft and helicopters in the airspace.
■ HÜRKUŞ: Aircraft capable of training, reconnaissance and light attack missions for the Turkish Armed Forces.
■ GÖKTÜRK-1 and GÖKTÜRK-3 Satellites: These satellites are used to collect data in both military and civilian areas.
■ Artificial Intelligence Supported Patient Monitoring System: This system continuously monitors the health status of patients and provides instant reports to doctors.
A critical role for ASELSAN
ASELSAN’s participation in the project is due to Türkiye’s long-term contributions to the layered air defense architecture. The barreled systems and short, medium and long-range air defense missile systems produced in Türkiye demonstrate ASELSAN’s competence in this area. The nationally developed ASELSAN HAKİM 100 Air Command and Control System combines data from different types of sensors to create a defined air picture. The system enables effective airspace control at the operational level by directing both land-based air defense systems and fighter jets with its threat assessment and hunting/weapon allocation algorithms. The Steel Dome architecture that Türkiye created with its systems with different ranges and layers was effective in ASELSAN being selected for this critical project within the scope of NATO.
milliyet
