A ccording to Turkish Exporters Assembly, defense and aerospace industry field exported arms amounted to $1.521,396 bil. in the first 9 months of 2020. Based on the assembly’s report, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the volume of arms exports decreased, however, there was registered an increase in September.

Particularly in September 2020, Turkey exported arms worth of more than $281bil. Major importers for the mentioned month were Azerbaijan ($77.167,47)[1], Oman ($62.974,51), the USA ($62.077,45), India ($15.673,56), Germany ($14.588,51), Poland ($10.193,67) and Tunisia ($5.362,27). It should be noted, that if for the first 9 months in 2019, Azerbaijan purchased arms worth of more than $20 mil. from Turkey, then for the same period of time in 2020, it purchased $123 mil. Moreover, the acquisition of UAVs, missile systems and other arms from Turkey became more intensive since July: it amounted to $383,000 in July, $36 mil. in August and $77 mil. in September. 

Compared to September last year, this September, the exports decreased in some countries and increased in some others. In particular, exports decreased to the USA (from $74 mil. to $62 mil.) and to the Netherlands (from $5mil. to $2mil.) whereas Columbia (from $321,000 to $1.5,il) and Pakistan (From $3000 to $2.9 mil.) increased the imports. It’s noteworthy that even on the background of Turkey-Greece tense relations, Greece purchased arms valued at $111,000 from Turkey.

Turkish military production is presented in the international market in several types: aviation spare parts of civilian and military significance, unmanned aerial vehicles, ammunition, armored vehicles (Arma 8×8, COBRA II 4×4), attack helicopters (T129), means of communication, jet volley fire systems and warships.

[1] Based on Turkish sources, Azerbaijan imported arms amounted to $419,000 from Turkey in September 2019