Exclusive Interview: Mr. Ahmet Akyol, CEO & President of ASELSAN

INTRODUCTION

1. Brief introduction of Mr. Ahmet Akyol and ASELSAN.

ASELSAN started its operations in 1975 by producing military communication equipment, aiming to fulfill the communication needs of the Turkish Armed Forces by national means. Today, we are one of the global leaders with its proven systems and products in the fields of radar and electronic warfare systems, micro-electronic guidance and electro-optical systems, defence system technologies, communication and information technologies; and meets the defence and security needs of several countries, as well as the Turkish Armed Forces. Besides defence, ASELSAN stands out also in the transportation, security, automation, energy, and health industries with its civil and commercial products. We are proud of rising to the 42^nd position in the “Top 100 Defence Companies” list of Defense News with our exceptional growth performance, which made us one of the 10 fastest growing defense companies across the world.

Before being appointed as the ASELSAN CEO & President, I held positions of engineer, manager, consultant, Board Member and Deputy Chairman at the Ministry of Science, Industry and Technology, Ministry of National Defence, TÜBİTAK, HAVELSAN and QUANTUM3D between 2007 and 2022. I served as the Head of the Communication, Electronics and Information Systems (MEBS) Department of the Defence Industry Agency, where I was appointed in 2018, for three years. In 2021-2022, I served as the Head of the Electronic Warfare and Radar Systems (EHRS) Department at the Defence Industry Agency. During my tenure, I assumed responsibility for a large number of critical defence industry projects.

After my duties at the Presidency of the Defence Industry, I was appointed as the Deputy General Manager of ASELSAN and the President of the Microelectronics, Guidance and Electro-Optics (MGEO) Sector by the decision of the ASELSAN  Board of Directors in June 2022. As of 22 June 2023, I was appointed as the CEO by the decision of the Board of Directors.  Besides my responsibilities as ASELSAN CEO & President,  I am also serving as a member of the Board of Directors of TÜBİTAK-SAGE and a member of the Sensor and Electronic Panel of the NATO Science and Technology Organization (STO)  representing my country.

2. Overview of ASELSAN’s role in the global defense sector.

As a global defence company, we are recognized for continuously expanding our product range and incorporating innovative technologies into our systems. As of today, ASELSAN has over 500 products, covering all domains from sub- surface to  space serve military and civilian users in 88 countries worldwide.

Our assertion in the defence industry is based on our nearly 50 years of expertise, technological capabilities and on our young and skilled workforce. We are one of the few defence companies delivering electronic systems to all domains in the global defence industry, and providing complete naval domain solutions.

At ASELSAN, we undertake projects that make a significant impact both in Türkiye and globally, not only with our state-of-the-art products that we develop from scratch, but also with our experience in modernization. For instance, ASELSAN presents tank modernization solutions with the indigenously developed systems for Russian T series, German Leopards and American M series tanks. Additionally, ASELSAN is the only company in the world to produce all the electronics that can be integrated to an MBT (Main Battle Tank).

CURRENT PROJECTS

1. Can you provide an update on ASELSAN’s major current projects?

ASELSAN aims to develop game changing technologies and produce the best-in class products as part of our future vision that we have named AselsaneXt 2030. We carry out major projects in different fields that stand out in the global defence industry. To remind just a few of them:

• We delivered DÜFAS, our first towed sonar system produced with national resources, which has a game-changing power in submarine warfare, to our navy, and we successfully completed the first diving tests of our country’s first autonomous unmanned underwater system, DERİNGÖZ.
• At the beginning of the year, we made the first export of the ASELFLIR-500 EO Reconnaissance, Surveillance and Targeting System, which provides effective results in detecting moving and fixed targets in UCAVs developed by the Turkish defence industry and provides higher performance than its counterparts. With ASELFLIR-500, Türkiye has become one of the three countries that can make functional designs through a common optical aperture. It achieved to catch an impressive export performance, as we signed the fourth export contract in its third month.
  
• We integrated our MURAD Aircraft Nose Radar, which maximizes the deterrence of air platforms to the highest level and is produced entirely with national resources, using AESA technology, into the F-16 platform.
• MARLİN, the first unmanned marine vehicle to be included in the inventory of the Turkish Armed Forces, draws attention with its features in the world.
• ASELSAN is asserting its position in the space field as well. In July, the launch of Türkiye’s first indigenous communication satellite, TÜRKSAT-6A, took place, and ASELSAN developed the communication payloads for this satellite. Right now, our team is conducting the in-orbit payload tests. We believe the experience we have gained in this project will contribute significantly to our future work in the field of satellites.
• In August, during conducted tests at the firing range, our TOLUN Guided Munition fired from an AKINCI UCAV hit the target with high precision even in the intense GNSS jamming environment. The ability to hit enemy elements protected by a GNSS jamming umbrella was successfully achieved. During the tests, the target was detected using an ASELFLIR-500, also developed by ASELSAN.
• Right now, ASELSAN is playing a leading role in the Steel Dome project of Türkiye, which is an indigenous multilayered airspace control and air defence system, incorporating a network-centric and AI-supported mechanism, designed to protect Turkish airspace. ASELSAN will design the system-of-systems architecture that will enable the fully integrated operation of “command control systems, sensor systems, weapon systems, and communication systems” together.
• Recently, Steel Dome’s component HİSAR O-100 air and missile defence system destroyed targets directly with success at a distance of 40+ kilometres during extended range firing tests.
• Another important component of Steel Dome, our long-range and high-altitude air defense system SİPER-2  has also been succesfully tested this month. It is equipped with a friend-or-foe target identification system and can launch missiles simultaneously from 8 launchers, each of which launches 6 missiles. It is expected that such a system will be capable of shooting down cruise missiles, fighter jets, air-to-ground missiles, drones, and in the future, ballistic targets.

2. What are the key objectives and expected outcomes of these projects?

We expect the projects that we carry out to enhance to our reliability among our international customers, which will then be reflected on our sales performance. We also see all of our projects as an opportunity to learn and improve our current technical capabilities.

When we consider the increased volatility and rising geopolitical tensions in different parts of the world, it is very important for defense companies to constantly improve the techical qualifications of their systems. As ASELSAN, we have the privilege of testing our systems on the battle-field and get real-time feedback from our armed forces, as well as from NATO drills. This provides an invluable opportunity to improve our products, makes them field-proven and improves their adaptability to new conditions. Our innovative defence technologies that have proven their reliability in the field are preffered and actively used by many countries with different economic, military and geographical conditions.

3. How do these projects align with ASELSAN’s long-term strategic goals?

ASELSAN is not only the leading defence company in Türkiye, but it has also become a global defence industry leader with its expertise, cutting-edge products and global expansion endavours. We are proud to remind that we have made a significant leap in the “TOP 100 Defence Companies” list published annually by Defense News. In the 2023 rankings based on defence revenues, we rose from 47^th place in the previous year to 42^nd place. As part of our strategic vision that we name AselsaneXt 2030, we have set a goal to be among the top 30 companies in the world by 2030.

We aim to achieve this target by developing game-changing techologies, producing the best-in-class products, and expanding our global presence. We believe that our current projects, upcoming products and systems we will develop will be the major components of our future vision to realize these ambitious plans.

TURKISH DEFENSE MODERNIZATION

1. How does ASELSAN contribute to Türkiye’s defense modernization efforts?

Besides development of systems and products from scratch, we have a prominent expertise on modernization and have been carrying out activities in the fields of tank, ship, helicopter and submarine modernization.

While 21^st century combat conditions require the Main Battle Tanks (MBTs) as a new generation war machine, ASELSAN with her broad experience and advanced engineering capabilities provides optimum and indigenous solutions for both last generation MBTs and modernized MBTs. ASELSAN’s MBT modernization capabilities, which are gained through Leopard 1 modernization program, go to a higher level with Leopard 2 modernization program and the systems developed for ALTAY program. The capabilities to develop and integrate all of the electronics, electro-optical and electro-mechanical subsystems are gained through these programs. We are also one of the few defense companies in the world, which is capable of producing all the components of the electronic system of a battle tank, including its critical sub-systems. We are also a pioneer company in the field of active tank protection systems with our AKKOR and PULAT, which enhances the survivability of MBTs in various mission environments.

As for the ship modernization projects, ASELSAN carries the role of the main contractor responsible for delivering the entire modernization package for the four Barbaros class frigates of the Turkish Navy. As part of the project scope, alterations were made to the ship’s superstructure and below-deck arrangement, with a redesigned main mast. As a result of these collective steps, BARBAROS-MLU Project has successfully increased the combat power and capabilities of the ships against surface, underwater, asymmetric and air targets.

We are also one of the leading defense companies in Türkiye regarding submarine modernization projects. As part of the modernization works, ASELSAN is equipping PREVEZE and GÜR-Class submarines with the most advanced systems, following the Ay-Class submarines modernization.

With over 30 years of experience in the field of avionics, ASELSAN carries out its activities as Türkiye’s first and largest avionic system designer, manufacturer and integrator for the modernization and integration of helicopter platforms, too. Currently, thousands of avionics products of hundreds different types of avionics systems developed and manufactured by ASELSAN are actively being used under operational conditions in over 400 helicopters modernized by ASELSAN. In addition to the modernization activities of the helicopters, ASELSAN also developed, manufactured and integrated avionics and mission management systems for T-70 and our national GÖKBEY Helicopter which are newly added to the inventory.

2. What are the key technologies or innovations that ASELSAN has developed to support this modernization?

ASELSAN’s product range for tank projects widens from light and medium tanks to main battle tanks in order to cover most of the tanks in the world. In this scope, ASELSAN presents tank modernization solutions with the indigenously developed systems for Russian T series, German Leopards and American M series tanks. In addition to own developed systems, we are able to provide solutions for different MBT platforms with solution providers such as armor, spall liner protection, fire suppression system, auxiliary power unit, air conditioning unit etc. as a complete package as systems integrator. With these capabilities, ASELSAN has become the only company in the world to produce all the electronics that can be integrated to an MBT.

With a specialized division dedicated to naval solutions having a long-lasting heritage and as one of the few companies providing complete naval domain solutions, we excel in upwardly scalable designing, developing and integrating comprehensive Combat Systems, as part of our ship modernization activities.  Our company showcases exceptional proficiency in managing the intricate interfaces among diverse subsystems with an enhanced exchange of deep knowledge. Furthermore, ASELSAN offers comprehensive life cycle support, to ensure sustained operational excellence.

As part of our submarine modernization activities, important tasks such as the integration and indigenous design and production of combat systems and sub-units has been achieved. Thus, we have minimized the foreign dependency of our country. Within the scope of the Preveze submarines modernization, submarine sonars, satellite communication system, integrated communication system, navigation radar and electronic support systems have been designed and produced by ASELSAN. We have also provided guided missile weapon control system and local production warship automatic identification system.

As ASELSAN, we modernized several helicopters with mission and flight management systems, weapon management systems, cockpit display and management systems, inertial navigation systems, communication and intercommunication systems, electronic warfare systems, thermal imaging systems. Thanks to these modernization activities, service life of the helicopters in the inventory is being increased, pilot workload is being decreased with modern, new generation and digitized avionic systems, and operational, mission and combat capabilities in all weather conditions are being increased.

3. Can you share any recent achievements or milestones in this area?

ASELSAN closely follows the battlefield needs and technological developments in the field of land and weapon systems, as in every field of activity. We play an important role not only on modernization of the Turkish Tank Fleet but also on developing Turkish National Main Battle Tank, ALTAY. We have modernized all M60T tanks of Turkish Land Forces against anti-tank threats. At the end of last year, we also started delivering upgraded, national fire control system and battlefield management system for M60T MBTs. Also last year, we signed a contract with one of the Latin America Countries to modernize all Leopard2A4 fleets. This is a great achievement since we have competed and won the tender against world’s leading MBT manufacturers.

As part of our ship modernization operations, we took a comprehensive initiative to modernize MEKO 200 Track 2 type Barbaros Class Frigates. In 2024, The modernization activities and the integration tests of the combat system had been successfully completed for the First Ship of class. Recently, in August 2024, the sea acceptance tests of the combat systems for the First Ship of class were successfully completed.

As for the submarine modernization projects, ASELSAN’s most advanced technologies are used in our modernized submarines, which will be a serious force multiplier for our navy. With the power of our national engineering, we are ready for any task for the survival and security of the Blue Homeland.

Within the scope of the helicopter modernization projects, Türkiye’s national pride, T-625 GÖKBEY helicopters which is equipped with avionic systems designed, developed and integrated by ASELSAN are going to be delivered to the end users in the near future. Recently, we also launched Avionic Suit and Civil Certification Project with our own resources. With this project, we aim to offer ready and certified avionic system solutions to international platform manufacturers such as Boeing, Airbus, Leonardo and as well as national platforms.

EXPORTS & ECONOMIC IMPACT

1. How does ASELSAN’s export strategy fit into the company’s overall business model?

We may say that exports are at the heart of all our activities and business model as we set growing through global expansion as one of the three pillars of our core vision for 2030.  We are proud to share that ASELSAN is one of the world’s 10 fastest growing defense companies in the last year . This was also reflected on our leap in the “Top 100 Defence Companies List” of Defense News.

The first half of 2024 has been an extraordinarily successful period in terms of our financial results. In the first six months:

• ASELSAN’s revenues reached 35.7 billion TL with an 8% growth rate in the first half of 2024.
• ASELSAN’s net profit grew by 133% compared to same period of the previous year, reaching 3.6 billion TL.
• The new contracts we signed increased by 124% compared to the same period of the previous year and reached 2.6 billion USD.
• Thus, the total backlog of the company, which was 11 billion USD at the end of 2023, increased by 11% and reached to 12.3 billion USD.

Read More: Turkiye ASELSAN Reports Exceptional Growth in First Half of 2024

2. What role does ASELSAN play in boosting Türkiye’s defense exports & contributing to the national economy?

Turkish defence industry has ambitious targets in terms of exports and in recent years have turned these ambitions into reality with increasing volumes of exports. As Türkiye’s leading defense company, ASELSAN plays a major role in realizing Türkiye’s defence exports targets.

As the Secretary of Turkish Defence Industries Prof. Dr. Haluk Görgün announced recently, Türkiye’s defence and aerospace exports increased by 12.6% in August compared to the previous year, reaching $423 million. In the first 8 months of 2024, Türkiye’s defence and aviation exports increased by 9.8% compared to the same period of the previous year and reached $3.738 billion. Thus, during the past 1 year, Türkiye’s exports increased by 13.4% on an annual basis. In parallel to it, new export contracts signed by ASELSAN in the first half of 2024 reached 365 million USD.

Türkiye’s main goal is to provide a permanent increasing trend in the export of high value-added products and we believe ASELSAN plays and will continue to play a leading role in realizing this goal. Our export figures, increasing foreign contracts and expanding global footprint are the major reflections of this success.

3. Can you provide examples of recent export deals or partnerships and their impact on both ASELSAN and Türkiye’s economy?

ASELSAN, which plays a crucial role in meeting Türkiye’s defence and security needs with its skilled workforce and engineering capabilities, has increasingly emphasized its identity as a “global defence company” in recent years and introduced its products to 88 countries globally.

We aim to meet the growing security and defence needs in different geographies with our technological solutions, providing benefits to all countries we will collaborate with, particularly our target markets including Europe, Africa, Middle East, Asia-Pacific and Latin America.

We are in a constant effort to sign new export contracts with our international clients and end-users but to just name a few:

• ASELSAN signed export contracts valued at USD 34.3 Million within the scope of the payloads for naval platforms in August, 2024.
• ASELSAN signed an international sales contract valued at USD 20.3 million regarding the export of air defence systems for the end use of an international client in July 2024.
• International sales contracts for the export of defence systems, including Electronic Warfare, Radar, Sonar Systems and Guidance Kits, valued at USD 79.3 million in total have been signed for end use of its clients located in Asia and Middle East in June 2024. The export of FERSAH 100-N/MF Hull Mounted Sonar System for Anti-Submarine Warfare will be carried out for the first time within the scope of this contract.
• We signed export contracts for the supply of guidance kits, ASELFLIR-500 system, land vehicles payloads, naval systems, air defense and communication systems, Intelligent Transportation Systems within 2024, as well.

DEFENSE INDUSTRY TRENDS

1. What are the major trends and challenges currently affecting the global defense industry?

There are changing trends in the global defence industry and warfare techniques and we are closely monitoring these trends when developing new systems and updating our existing solutions. In the past, countries were mainly focused on defeding thier territories against ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, helicopter and fighter jets, etc. These are still real threats, however recent global conflicts have showed us that drones are the new threats. And to handle and overcome this threat, you need to have cost effective air defence systems.

The second issue is the electromagnetic superiority to be effective against the enemy. Therefore, electronic warfare has gained even more importance with the changing warfare landscape. Last but not least, superiority in the field of ammunition is also creating a difference on the field and has to be seriously considered. Armies need to have active tank protection systems, helicopter protection systems, aircraft protection systems to survive in the battlefield. For the conventional ammunitions, you need to have a huge amount of mass production capability and sustainable production lines to continue and succeed in a long-term war.

Thirdly, as in today’s modern warfare Artifical Intelligence (AI) plays a critical role in different domains, specifically in the command and control systems, we are paying special attention to incorporate AI to our systems and products. Besides the technologies we develop, we are also using AI in our internal processes to achieve greater efficiency, more accurate decision-making, and stay ahead in the competition.

2. How is ASELSAN positioning itself to address these trends and challenges?

We are making a huge investment in technology and our human resources and with this powerful workforce we are closely monitoring the latest trends on the battlefield when producing new products or updating our existing systems. We are very decisive and assertive in the field of payloads for the unmanned air vehicles. ASELSAN has evolved as a technology giant in Türkiye and also as an international company. We started with land systems and then jumped to the naval systems, and then aircrafts, UAVs and space. In time we have developed various payloads, which we deployed to Turkish national aircraft companies, UAV companies, and satellite companies. And now, we are showcasing our proven products to the international markets in the air domain, as well.  Critical technologies such as artificial intelligence, air defence, unmanned systems, autonomy and network-supported warfare shape the battlefield today and our company is closely following these technologies. Within that framework we have also incorporated Artificial Intelligence to all our internal processes to become faster and more agile.

Here, I’d like to also mention the Steel Dome project of Türkiye, in which ASELSAN is located at the heart with multiple products and systems and which is set to take great attention globally. The focus of the Steel Dome will be on developing infrastructures that will ensure the real-time and integrated operation of the systems involved in air defence. ASELSAN will also design the system-of-systems architecture that will enable the fully integrated operation of command control systems, sensor systems, weapon systems, and communication systems together within the project. And we belive this “system of systems” is a crucial example of the work we carry out in line with the new and global trends on the battlefield.

3. What future technologies or capabilities does ASELSAN see as critical for the defense sector?

As I have mentioned before as a global technology company we are making huge investments for incorporating the new technologies in our operations. We have set a strategic roadmap for our technological improvement. Just to name a few of the future technologies we invest on, I can mention quantum computing for instance. We built Türkiye’s first quantum laboratory named KUANTAL with a university in Ankara. It achieved to produce a quantum integrated circuit. We are making long-term investments in quantum computing such as quantum communication, crypto side, quantum lidar and quantum radar.

The second area is HPM, high power microwave which is a challenging technology. ASELSAN also has a gallium nitride chip design and production facility for electronic warfare and radars. Last but not least, we are investing in high power lasers and laser sources. Our 2030 transformation plan also includes digital transformation, management transformation and improvement of mass production in all domains.

We have included the artificial intelligence function as a requirement in all products and systems developed by ASELSAN in our internal operations, and we have added the effective use of artificial intelligence in our products among our priorities. We effectively use artificial intelligence in command and control systems to facilitate the work of decision makers with artificial intelligence-supported algorithms and to process big data. We are trying to make a difference here with artificial intelligence-supported algorithms, both in unmanned land and sea vehicles and in other autonomous systems. We have come to use artificial intelligence robots in all studies within ASELSAN. We are happy to announce that we expanding this step by step in our internal processes.

CONCLUSION

1. What are ASELSAN’s key goals for the next five years?

Our journey, started by four engineers in 1975, has led us to become the world’s 42^nd largest defence company today based on the Defense News’ annual Top 100 list. As we approach our 50^th anniversary, we have set a vision for the future, with a primary focus on 2030 and beyond, called AselsanNext 2030. Ultimate goal of this vision is to be among Top 30 defence companies worldwide by 2030. In pursuit of this goal, ASELSAN has embarked on three main priorities:

• Producing the best-in class products,
• Developing game-changing technologies,
• Growing by expanding our global reach.

We have set all our future plans in line with this 2030 vision and all our teams are on the same page to reach this goal. We will be going through a digital transformation, an HR transformation and improve our mass production capacities simultaneously.

2. Any final thoughts or messages for stakeholders and partners?

ASELSAN continues its journey toward globalization, strengthening international collaborations daily. We aim to expand our reach by bringing our innovative products and modernization expertise to more countries, particularly across Europe, the Balkans, the Middle East, Latin America, South Asia, and Africa. We have strong collaboration with our stakeholders within Türkiye and globally and we are more than ready to add new partnerships and strengthen ASELSAN as a global defense power in the years to come.

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