Over the span of 10 days in February 2026, Türkiye and Saudi Arabia signed a series of high-level defence-industrial agreements covering a fifth-generation fighter programme, a utility helicopter, and unmanned naval platforms.
Taken together, these deals point toward something that could be larger than a bilateral procurement cycle but, instead, an early shape of a ‘Central’ bloc of defence-industrial output forming between the traditional Western and Eastern anchors of global arms production.
The Erdoğan–MBS Summit and Its Defence Dividend
President Erdoğan visited Riyadh on February 3, meeting Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Defence cooperation featured prominently in the bilateral outcomes.
Speaking to reporters on his return flight, Erdoğan described the agreements as “major” and signalled that joint KAAN investment could proceed “at any moment” (Anadolu Agency).
Five days later, World Defense Show (WDS) 2026 opened in Riyadh. By the time the show closed on February 12, over 60 defence deals worth approximately SAR 33 billion (USD $8.8 billion) were signed, including 220 agreements (i.e., 93 government-to-government and 127 company-to-company) and 73 memoranda of understanding (MoUs).
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