Introducing Turkish high-tech: fighter jets and drones take to the skies
One of the world's largest aerospace and technology exhibitions, Teknofest, has kicked off.
Introducing Turkish high-tech: fighter jets and drones take to the skies
Geurasia

Introducing Turkish high-tech: fighter jets and drones take to the skies

Photo: AFP/Anadolu/Musa Serdar
Eurasia 03/10/2024 15:27
AFP/Anadolu/Utku Urcak
AFP/Anadolu/Utku Urcak

Aerospace, defense and technology enthusiasts can rejoice as Teknofest, one of the world's largest themed festivals, kicked off in Türkiye this week. And for those who can't make the trip to Adana, the internet is full of videos and pictures.

Fighter and transport planes, helicopters and drones swarmed Adana, Türkiye, as Teknofest, one of the world's largest aerospace and technology exhibitions, kicked off on the second of October.

The festival, which was launched in 2018, attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors every year and aims primarily to showcase the achievements of Turkey's emerging defence industry to the general public as well as to the industry itself.

And this year, spectators were not disappointed with a spectacular display on the opening day of the five-day event by the Turkish Stars, the world's largest team of supersonic fighter jets. Other activities included paratroopers practising, helicopters and aircraft painting the skies in national colours.

AFP/Anadolu/Utku Urcak
However, the biggest event was probably the debut of the two latest Turkish combat drones, the Bayraktar TB3 and the Anka 3. The Turkish unmanned aerial vehicles have already proven themselves in several wars, in Syria, Nagorno-Karabakh and Ukraine, and there are already a queue of customers for them.
Türkiye's defense sector is growing at an explosive rate: its turnover exceeded $10 billion in 2022, its exports $4.4 billion, and is on target to reach $6 billion by 2023. Already, foreign orders increased by 42 percent between 2020 and 2021. According to 2012 data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), Türkiye was the 12th largest arms exporter in 2022, a slice of international trade of only 1.1 percent, but a significant improvement on the previous period. Meanwhile, it has been gradually detaching itself from its suppliers, becoming only the 19th arms buyer last year, with the decline in US trade particularly striking.

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