Turkey’s Defense Exports Jump 61% to $1.14 Billion in Best Month of 2026

October was the strongest month of 2026 for Türkiye’s defense and aerospace exporters, with shipments of $1.14 billion, 61% above a year earlier, according to Haluk Görgün, head of the Presidency of Defense Industries (SSB).

The result lifted January–October exports to $8.05 billion, up 21%, and the trailing 12-month total to $11.357 billion, up 37%. That is above the $11 billion mark Görgün set as a near-term goal in May.

Görgün announced the figures in a post on X on Nov. 3. They are government-reported, and Clash Report has not independently audited them.

Clash Report

A Sharp October Rebound

“In October, our exports reached $1.14 billion, an increase of 61% compared to the same month last year,” Görgün said, according to Anadolu Agency. The increase implies October 2025 exports of about $708 million.

October narrowly edged past July’s $1.12 billion, the previous high of the year. It also marked a clear break from the two preceding months.

August exports came in at $511.4 million, Görgün said. September reached $634 million, up 10.7% year on year, Daily Sabah reported.

Cumulative Growth Recovers

The October figure reversed a slowdown in cumulative growth. January–September exports totaled $6.92 billion, up 15.6%, before October lifted the 10-month rate to 21%. The 12-month total stood at $10.94 billion at the end of September.

Momentum had been stronger earlier in the year. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan put January–June exports at $4.665 billion, up nearly 30%, and Görgün reported January–July at $5.79 billion, up 26.2%.

Monthly totals in the first half ranged from $553 million in February to $992 million in May.

Targets Met and Pending

Görgün set the $11 billion marker at the SAHA 2026 expo in Istanbul on May 5. He said Türkiye had exported $10.5 billion to 185 countries over the previous 12 months, Anadolu reported.

His aim, he said, was to “soon exceed $11 billion and move Türkiye into the world’s top 10 countries in defense and aerospace exports.”

A higher bar remains. Haluk Bayraktar, chairman of SAHA Istanbul and chief executive of Baykar, said at the same event that the 2026 export target is $13 billion.

By Clash Report’s calculation, meeting it would require nearly $5 billion in November and December combined. December 2025 alone exceeded $2.5 billion, a monthly record, according to Görgün.

The 2025 Baseline

Exports passed $10 billion for the first time in 2025, Görgün said. That year also marked the first time service exports were counted, at $184 million.

Europe was the largest destination region, at $4.3 billion, followed by the Middle East at $1.6 billion. The U.S., the U.K. and Slovakia were the largest individual recipients, Anadolu reported.

The EU, NATO members and the U.S. together accounted for about 56% of 2025 exports. Defense and aerospace made up 3.6% of Türkiye’s total exports that year.

New export-related contracts signed in 2025 totaled nearly $18 billion, up about 78% from roughly $10 billion in 2024, according to Görgün.

Deals Behind the Numbers

SAHA 2026, held May 5–9, produced 182 agreements worth $8 billion in business volume, $6 billion of it export-oriented, Erdoğan said.

At the expo, Baykar signed the first export agreement for its Bayraktar KIZILELMA unmanned combat aircraft. The deal with Indonesia covers up to 48 aircraft and local production facilities. Clash Report has also covered KIZILELMA’s air-to-air intercept test.

Indonesia is also the first export customer for the KAAN fighter jet. Jakarta signed an implementation contract for 48 jets in July 2025, Reuters reported, with no contract value disclosed. Turkish media have put it at about $10 billion.

Saudi Arabia is in talks to join the KAAN program. In February, Turkish Aerospace general manager Mehmet Demiroğlu said discussions were in the “final stages of decision-making,” potentially involving a sale of about 20 jets or shared production, Breaking Defense reported. Erdoğan had said Saudi Arabia could finalize a joint investment at any moment.

Late-October Agreements

Türkiye also signed two defense-cooperation agreements in the second half of October.

On Oct. 21, Türkiye, Qatar, Indonesia and Pakistan signed the “Badr” memorandum in Doha, covering joint production, technology sharing, research and development, and technical training. Görgün signed alongside Defense Minister Yaşar Güler, Anadolu reported.

A day later in Ankara, Görgün and Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand signed a memorandum of understanding on defense-industry partnerships during Prime Minister Mark Carney’s visit.

At home, Ankara plans to raise spending on weapons, ammunition and military systems by 229% in 2027, Clash Report reported in October.

Government Framing

Görgün credited Erdoğan for the results and thanked companies, engineers and technicians in his post.

“Under the leadership of our President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, we are bringing our national technologies to international markets and developing the production and export capacity of our defense industry,” he said, in Anadolu’s translation.

A Different Measure

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) ranked Türkiye the 11th-largest arms exporter for 2021–25. Its share of global major-arms exports was 1.8%, up from 0.9% in 2016–20, an increase of 122%.

Pakistan, at 16%, the UAE, at 12%, and Ukraine, at 8.4%, were the top recipients of Turkish arms in that period.

SIPRI tracks deliveries of major arms using a trend-indicator value rather than dollar sales. Its ranking cannot be directly compared with the SSB’s export figures.