ASELSAN General Manager Ahmet Akyol outlined Türkiye's defence-industry transformation with hard numbers. Speaking at METU's "National Technology Summit" in a presentation titled "On the Path to Becoming a Global Brand," Akyol noted that ASELSAN — now ranked Europe's 5th most valuable defence company — has hired 194 engineers from abroad in the past 18 months, calling it a historic milestone in reverse brain drain.
Akyol recalled that ASELSAN was founded in 1975 in response to embargoes, and described the 14 May 2004 Defence Industry Executive Committee decision as a turning point: after externally-sourced projects were halted and reassigned to domestic companies, ASELSAN grew from 2,000 to 14,000 employees, cut project delivery times from 48 to 28 months, and lifted production capacity by approximately 200%. In Q1 results, the third-largest revenue contributor was an AI-driven project.
Akyol announced that, in addition to its six existing campuses in Ankara, ASELSAN is building "Europe's largest air-defence facility" on a 7,000-decare (~700-hectare) site — a transformation investment larger than the combined footprint of all six existing campuses. He added that gallium nitride (GaN)-based chips are now being produced domestically, with active programmes in electro-optical systems, quantum technologies, low-Earth-orbit satellites, and counter-drone systems.
From a supply-chain perspective, this investment matters at three levels: (1) a domestic GaN chip ecosystem reduces dependence on foreign semiconductors and lowers import risk for critical military electronics; (2) capacity expansion drives higher export volumes, lifting defence's share of Türkiye's foreign trade; (3) single-site consolidation creates scale economics in materials flow and supplier management — particularly for specialty composites, refractory alloys, and PCB sourcing.
Key Takeaways:
1. ASELSAN is building a new 7,000-decare air-defence facility in Ankara — positioned as the largest in Europe.
2. 194 engineers hired from abroad in the past 18 months — a reverse brain drain.
3. Project delivery cut from 48 to 28 months; production capacity up ~200%.
4. Gallium nitride (GaN) chips now produced domestically.
5. AI-driven project ranked third largest revenue contributor in Q1.
