Turkey markets $10,000 drone defence

{"text":[[{"start":10.86,"text":"An automated air-defence system that can destroy attack drones for just $10,000 is helping drive a Turkish defence exports boom to the Gulf and countries such as Ukraine as governments seek affordable ways to fend off mass drone attacks."}],[{"start":26,"text":"Ahmet Akyol, chief executive of Aselsan, Turkey’s most valuable defence company, told the FT its Korkut gun system — which can defend against mass-produced “kamikaze” drones modelled on Iran’s Shahed — was operational in nine countries and had eliminated “maybe hundreds of drones”."}],[{"start":45.72,"text":"He also said the Korkut was operating in Ukraine, a rare confirmation of Turkey’s defence presence there given Ankara’s efforts to maintain good relations with both Moscow and Kyiv during the Russia-Ukraine war."}],[{"start":59,"text":"Systems such as the Korkut are “the most feasible way of eliminating drones in terms of effectiveness and cost”, Akyol told the FT, and “because of this efficiency [and] operational success” the Korkut is now “in nine countries . . . including some Gulf countries, and eastern European countries like Ukraine.”"}],[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":78.08,"text":"Ukraine’s air force confirmed to the FT that one Ukrainian unit had been equipped with an undisclosed number of Korkut systems."}],[{"start":85.8,"text":"The economics of air defence have become increasingly pressing as Iran, Russia and non-state militants such as the Houthis deploy barrages of cheap attack drones. Such swarms can overwhelm air defences, opening the way for ballistic or cruise missile strikes, as in the Houthis’ recent attacks on Riyadh airport."}],[{"start":105.36,"text":"Brent Ingraham, the US Army’s acquisition chief, last week described it as the “affordable mass problem”. Akyol said Turkey’s answer was “fast delivery” and “cost-effective” air defence."}],[{"start":118,"text":"While Iranian or Russian Shahed attack drones cost only tens of thousands of dollars to make, the missiles that are most effective against them — such as Patriot PAC-3 or IRIS-T interceptors — cost between a few hundred thousand and a few million dollars each."}],[{"start":133.4,"text":"By contrast, Korkut’s programmable 35mm airburst rounds are estimated at about $1,000 apiece."}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":140.76,"text":"“For one Shahed or one kamikaze drone, [the elimination cost by a Korkut] is less than $10,000,” Akyol said in an interview. “In the Ukraine-Russia war, in the recent Gulf conflict . . . using missiles [alone] is not [economically] feasible.”"}],[{"start":156.68,"text":"Kyiv uses an eclectic array of weapons against Russia’s aerial assaults, from truck-mounted heavy machine guns to German Gepard anti-aircraft guns. Weapons makers around the world have leapt at the challenge of cheap drone defence to develop products, including interceptor drones."}],[{"start":173,"text":"But Ukraine has struggled against Russia’s new jet-powered Shaheds, which can reach 600kph. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said last weekend that F-16 fighter jets were having to shoot down many of the jet-powered drones, called Gerans."}],[{"start":187.8,"text":"Iran has also deployed jet-powered Shahed drones against Gulf targets, according to the CSIS think-tank."}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":193.76,"text":"There is no public record of a Korkut downing a jet-powered drone, but in theory it should not be a challenge as the system was designed “to shoot down low-flying aircraft and cruise missiles [flying] at high subsonic speeds of 700 to 900kph,” said Wood & Company defence industry analyst Atınç Özkan."}],[{"start":213.8,"text":"Other European analysts said Turkish defence companies had a reputation for talking up their products, and their quality varies. Even so, Korkut has drawn praise from officials who have seen it in action."}],[{"start":225.44,"text":"First publicly deployed overseas by the Turkish military in Libya in 2020 in support of the UN-recognised government in Tripoli, the Korkut formed part of an air-defence network widely credited with changing the balance against Khalifa Haftar’s forces."}],[{"start":240.04,"text":"It was shown to be effective against Chinese-made Wing Loong drones and able to throw a protective bubble over key airfields. One UN official remarked at the time: “If you fly within 4km of a Korkut you’re toast.”"}],[{"start":251.24,"text":"Turkey used a similar approach to air defence against Russian-backed forces during the Nagorno-Karabakh war in Azerbaijan in 2021, and Russian-backed Syrian troops in the late 2010s, according to Sweden’s Defence Research Agency."}],[{"start":266.84,"text":"“This experience has given Turkey’s defence industry a certain expertise against Russian-made systems,” said Arda Mevlütoğlu, an Ankara-based defence consultant."}],[{"start":277.52,"text":"Founded in 1975 after the US imposed an arms embargo because of Turkey’s intervention in Cyprus, Aselsan is the most valuable company on the Istanbul Stock Exchange, with a market capitalisation of about $32bn."}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":292,"text":"With 74 per cent of its shares owned by a military foundation that controls other strategic companies, such as missile manufacturer Roketsan, Aselsan sits at the centre of a booming industry that has made Turkey the world’s 11th-largest arms exporter, with $10bn of exports last year, up 48 per cent from 2023."}],[{"start":312,"text":"Mark Rutte, Nato’s secretary-general, has singled out the company for being at the forefront of Turkey’s “defence industrial revolution”."}],[{"start":319.68,"text":"Aselsan supplies much of the industry’s electronic nervous system, including sensors and electronic-warfare equipment for Baykar, the drone maker chaired by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s son-in-law Selçuk Bayraktar."}],[{"start":332.26,"text":"Beneath such big defence groups sit a network of private suppliers, universities and research centres that draw from a broad manufacturing base: Turkey is Europe’s largest commercial-vehicle producer and the world’s second-largest maker of white goods after China."}],[{"start":347.24,"text":"Close links with the military also allow for rapid testing and operational feedback, as in Libya’s civil war or the use of Baykar drones in Turkey’s long counter-insurgency against Kurdish rebel groups."}],[{"start":358.76,"text":"“Arguably Turkey’s main defence-industry advantage is the speed with which it can test its prototypes,” a senior Nato official said. “The regulatory gap between wanting to test and doing so is all but non-existent.”"}],[{"start":370.8,"text":"The result is a closely integrated industry, geared to developing indigenous technologies at scale. Erdoğan never misses a chance to talk up its prospects."}],[{"start":379.56,"text":"Akyol, who has led Aselsan for three years after previous roles in Turkey’s defence bureaucracy, said Nato allies remained Aselsan’s core market, citing a $410mn electronic-warfare deal last year with Poland as evidence of its competitiveness with European suppliers."}],[{"start":397.64,"text":"But in the current “non-rules-based world order”, Gulf countries have also become “a very important and very huge market”, Akyol added, with Turkey’s August defence pact with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan “another advantage”."}],[{"start":411.84,"text":"With an order backlog close to $30bn, Akyol said international markets generated a quarter of sales, up from 8 per cent in 2023, with a target of 50 per cent by 2030."}],[{"start":423.9,"text":"He singled out Turkey’s flagship Steel Dome air-defence programme — a planned network of radars, command centres, guns and missiles integrated by Aselsan electronics — as one source of export growth."}],[{"start":435.88,"text":"“It is a modular system. You can integrate it into your systems, or you can use only one layer,” Akyol said. “It is plug and play.”"}],[{"start":444.28,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1792778505_4039.mp3"}