Roketsan General Manager Murat İkinci said Türkiye has a 65% share of the global market for unmanned aerial vehicles and the munitions used by them.
İkinci made the remarks at a panel titled "Breaking boundaries in technology: How can the best be achieved?" held as part of TEKNOFEST at GAP Airport in Şanlıurfa.
Roketsan’s technology and research and development goals
İkinci said Roketsan is not merely a defense company and aims to represent Türkiye internationally in high-technology fields, particularly missile and space technologies.
İkinci said these efforts aim to strengthen Türkiye’s independence and contribute to friendly and brotherly countries.
İkinci said Roketsan places great importance on research and development and that more than 8,000 people work at the company. He said approximately 4,000 of these employees are engineers working exclusively in research and development, adding that about half of the workforce focuses on innovation efforts.
İkinci said infrastructure, laboratories and production lines alone would not be sufficient without investment in a qualified workforce prepared for the future. He said Roketsan has become one of the three largest companies in Türkiye in the field of research and development.
More than 700 projects for the technologies of the future
İkinci said leadership requires working on the technologies of the future today, adding that Türkiye has reached a 65% global share in unmanned aerial vehicles and munitions. He said this share was achieved by focusing on the technologies of the future rather than imitating past successes.
İkinci said swarm technologies would play an influential role in the future of rocket technologies, adding that these systems would rely on coordination, artificial intelligence and joint decision-making mechanisms. He said countering thousands of inexpensive and coordinated aerial elements would pose a challenge for air defense systems.
İkinci said artificial intelligence represents both an opportunity and a threat at the same time and that the technology would permeate all sectors. He said Roketsan is working on more than 700 technical areas, including magnetic launch, cold launch and propellant development.
TEKNOFEST, held in southeastern Türkiye, began on Wednesday and will welcome visitors through Sunday, October 4.
