In early December, Türkiye’s Presidency of Defence Industries (SSB) announced that defence and aerospace exports had reached USD 7.45 billion by the end of 2025, already surpassing the 2024 full-year record of USD 7.2 billion.
“With this momentum, our sector broke a new record,” declared SSB President Haluk Görgün. “Our export figures, achieved in just 11 months, surpassed all-time annual figures.”
The trajectory is remarkable: exports grew at an average annual rate of nearly 30 percent between 2020 and 2025, representing more than a 250% increase from $2.28 billion in 2020.
Days later, South Korea fulfilled a $6.5 billion contract for 180 K2 Black Panther main battle tanks (MBT) with Poland – the largest single defence export in Korean history.
South Korea now ranks as the world’s tenth-largest arms exporter, targeting the top four by 2027. Türkiye rose to eleventh globally, with five companies now in SIPRI’s Top 100 arms producers, whose combined revenues exceed $10 billion.
These headlines reflect a more significant shift.
Both Türkiye and South Korea have moved from near-total dependence on American weapons to becoming major exporters, capturing NATO and key non-NATO markets alike.
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