Turkey’s defense giant ASELSAN (Askeri Elektronik Sanayi, Military Electronic Industries) is preparing to launch its offices in Pakistan from January 1, 2020.
The company is looking to strengthen its marketing openings as it is aiming to expand its defense transactions with Pakistan. It is also likely to open its base in Ukraine as well, according to the Turkish media.
Turkey and Pakistan are traditional allies who have a close and harmonious relationship. The recent consolidation of defense interests is unprecedented and it signifies a convergence of national interests of both the nations. Pakistan has growing defense industry and wants to gain ground in the global market.
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Aselsan revealed that in November 2019, the company got a €176.9 million contract from ASFAT A.Ş (Military Factory and Shipyard Management Inc) to supply subsystems for the Pakistan Navy’s four MILGEM (i.e., Jinnah-class) multi-mission corvettes/light frigates. This was Aselsan’s second largest contract involving Pakistan – the first was a $254.73 million US deal in July for the Pakistan Army’s T129 ATAK attack helicopter program.
Back in July 2018, Pakistan’s Ministry of Defence Production (MoDP) signed a contract with ASFAT A.Ş for the four MILGEMs. The value of the Pakistani MILGEM contract is reportedly US$1.5 billion. The four ships are due for delivery to the Pak Navy by 2023-2024, with the first ship set to arrive in 2022-2023.
Under the contract, Pakistan’s Karachi Shipyard & Engineering Works (KSEW) will manufacture two of the ships, with the other two being built in Turkey. Pakistan will also receive “complete transfer of technology and the transfer of intellectual property for the design of (the MILGEM).”
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In the interim, Pakistan is a top buyer of military hardware from ASELSAN — as of late, on May 19, Pakistan Navy brought ‘torpedo rockets’ from ASELSAN, which is created to counter short proximity activities.
ASELSAN deals with manufacturing military equipment, which designs, develops and manufactures modern electronic systems for military and industrial customers — worldwide well known for manufacturing electronic warfare, weapons, command control and navigation systems.
It currently sells its products to 65 countries, and the company is aiming to expand its defense transactions.
The company also has offices in Azerbaijan, the Philippines, Qatar, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates and Northern Macedonia. The localization efforts of the company in the countries it operates boost its export capacity. The offices are run by Turkish general managers and employ local staff.
ASELSAN is expected to close 2019 with $2.9 billion in revenue as compared to $1.87 billion in 2018.
According to the Defense News Top 100 list 2018, ASELSAN ranked 52nd in the list with $1.8 billion in defense revenue last year. Another report published by the Swedish-based Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) on Monday also revealed that ASELSAN ranked 54th among the largest 100 defense companies.
India is forcing all companies to make all defense products locally under the “Made in India” program.
We should do the same. All defense contractors ( weather Turkish, Chinese or whatever) must produce locally under the ” Made in Pakistan” program.
Offices are not enough. We want them to “Make in Pakistan” or else they should never be given any contracts.
Local production can generate thousands of jobs, while buying and producing them abroad does not create any jobs and money goes elsewhere as well.