President of Defence Industries Haluk Görgün shared a post regarding the Defence Industry Forum held in Ankara as part of the 36th NATO Heads of State and Government Summit.
Görgün announced that they signed agreements within the scope of the 2026 NATO Defence Industry Forum on areas such as Strike Force Capabilities, Integrated Air and Missile Defence Systems, Space and Surveillance Capabilities, Critical Raw Materials for the Defence Industry, and NATO's Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Superiority, which member countries will jointly develop.
Haluk Görgün stated, 'These projects, in which ASELSAN, ROKETSAN, STM and TÜBİTAK will be among the contractors, will form the backbone of the Alliance's deterrence architecture in the coming years.'
Within the scope of the 2026 NATO Defence Industry Forum, member countries will jointly develop: •Strike Force Capabilities, •Integrated Air and Missile Defence Systems, •Space and Surveillance Capabilities, •Critical Raw Materials for the Defence Industry, •NATO's Unmanned Aerial Vehicle... Pic. Twitter. Com/GvEIIeK5YJ - Prof. Dr.
Haluk Görgün (@halukgorgun) July 7, 2026 'WE ACHIEVED UNPRECEDENTED GROWTH IN DEFENCE INDUSTRY' President of Defence Industries Haluk Görgün, 36.
Speaking at the opening of the Defence Industry Forum held in Ankara as part of the 36th NATO Heads of State and Government Summit, he noted that the forum's effects and outcomes could last for years and expressed pleasure at hosting participants in Ankara.
Stating that the Defence Industry Forum was this year's 'centerpiece' of the summit, Görgün noted that this was largely due to a better understanding of the importance of the defense industry for the future of allies.
Görgün said that NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte making this a priority gave special meaning to the forum, adding, 'Another factor that truly makes this forum unique is that it is being held in Turkey, which under the leadership of our President, Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has exhibited unprecedented growth in the defense industry.'
Explaining that they worked closely with the NATO Secretariat for the forum, Görgün stated, 'Given the high expectations from the forum, we planned every detail with the precision of a jeweler in close cooperation with the NATO Secretariat.'
Noting that this year the participant profile reached its highest level in both quality and quantity, Görgün called on attendees to examine the displayed capabilities, saying, 'I especially recommend not missing the opportunity to get to know KIZILELMA up close.'
'WE HAVE VERY LITTLE TIME' Referring to NATO's recent decisions aimed at increasing defense production capacity, Görgün recalled that the Defence Production Action Plan was announced at the Vilnius Summit, and agreement was reached on the Industrial Capacity Expansion Pledge at the Washington Summit.
Noting that the commitment at The Hague Summit to allocate 5 percent of GDP to defense spending reflected the alliance's consensus on industrial expansion, Görgün continued: 'Over the past three years, serious ruptures, wars and security threats in almost every region of the world have rewritten the defense architecture.
Today's forum is being held against this backdrop. What is certain is that we have very little time, we must strengthen our industrial capacity, and no country can shoulder this burden alone.
Noting that, as Rutte has often emphasized, these goals will become realistic only if NATO members act together, Görgün stated, 'As the Turkish defense industry, we are ready to be one of the driving forces of the industrial transformation that NATO needs.'
'WE HAVE HIGHLY MATURE SOLUTIONS' Haluk Görgün stated that the Turkish defense industry offers solutions in the summit's thematic areas, saying, 'We have highly mature solutions particularly in armed unmanned aerial vehicles, deep strike, space technologies, air defense and countering drone threats. NATO forces are already using our products successfully in the field.'
Touching on cooperation with Spain in the modern jet trainer aircraft field, partnership with Poland for electronic warfare and border security infrastructure, and efforts to strengthen the land and naval inventories of Romania, Hungary and Estonia, Görgün said: 'In our cooperation with Spain on the modern jet trainer aircraft, in our partnership with Poland for electronic warfare and border security infrastructure, in our work aimed at strengthening the land and naval inventories of Romania,
Hungary and Estonia, and in our activities to increase the transatlantic resilience of the Bayraktar TB2 fleet stationed in Poland, you can see traces of the industrial contributions we offer to our allies. We also want to carry these capabilities to new initiatives under the NATO umbrella. We approach such cooperations from a strategic perspective.
That was also the motivation behind our hosting of numerous events such as Multi-Domain Operations and Innovation Continuity in recent years, and offering technical support to all working platforms within NATO.' Wishing the forum to contribute to NATO's progress, Görgün invited participants to the reception to be held at the Turkish Aerospace Industries facilities.
