SAHA Istanbul Defense, Aerospace and Space Cluster, having been Turkey's largest and Europe’s second largest industrial cluster is now closing the first half of 2022 as Europe's largest industrial cluster. The rise of Turkey’s domestic defense industry has been recognized internationally, with SAHA Istanbul sitting at the top of Europe.
SAHA EXPO, which will be held between 25 - 28 October 2022, SAHA MBA training, which started its third term within the SAHA Academy and prepared the sector for the growth process of management, branding and becoming a world brand, SAHA Startup, which supports entrepreneurial companies who want to realize new projects in the sector, and SAHA Istanbul, which has implemented many projects to contribute to the rise of the sector with its 816 members, supports the rise of the Turkish defense industry. Established in 2015, SAHA Istanbul has grown by 35-fold in 7 years and continues to grow by rising to the position of Europe's largest industrial cluster.
SAHA Istanbul Industrial cluster, which includes 816 companies and 22 universities in the Defense and Aerospace Technologies industry, is preparing to become the largest industrial cluster in Europe. İlhami Keleş, General Secretary of SAHA Istanbul, said; “We were the second largest cluster after Airbus in the European Clusters Union, our SAHA Istanbul Cluster, together with the companies accepted in our Board of Directors this month, has reached a size even greater than Airbus's "Aerospace Valley" in Toulouse. We are now the largest cluster in Europe. The domestic defense industry is rapidly gaining importance in the international arena and as SAHA Istanbul, we contribute greatly to this development. The fact that SAHA Istanbul is the largest industrial cluster in Europe will put Turkey in a stronger position in the field of Defense and Aerospace Technologies”.
Explaining that taking part in global competition in the field of defense and aerospace has become very important for Turkey, İlhami Keleş said; "We create this synergy with new talents, consortia and similar structures by combining the capabilities of companies to eliminate foreign dependency. The Russia-Ukraine war showed that the self-power and self-defense capabilities of the countries are at the forefront of everything. "
Stating that the defense industry for Turkey is a matter of life and death when the geographical position of the country is considered, SAHA Istanbul Secretary General İlhami Keleş said, “Our domestic defense industry products, used in Syria, Iraq, Libya, the Eastern Mediterranean, Karabakh and Ukraine, are subjects of news articles and are followed by the world right now. The success of our unmanned aerial vehicles is indisputable, but all SAHA Istanbul members we support carry out successful projects at global standards. The Turkish defense industry is developing rapidly and developing crucial projects in areas such as ammunition technologies, electronic warfare, software technologies and similar industrial capabilities to land vehicles, and naval platforms.”
Ilhami Keleş underlined that the fact that SAHA Istanbul is the largest industrial cluster in Europe is a very important development for Turkey that will put the proverbial wind behind it and said, “We will be holding the SAHA EXPO Defense and Aerospace Technologies Fair between October 25-28. We'll see your talents showcased to the world. Both the world's most important defense industry representatives and Turkey's successful companies will meet at SAHA Expo. We will bring together the successful rise of Turkey in the world, especially in Europe, with very important events at SAHA Expo.”
Ilhami Keleş also gave information about the important structures of SAHA Istanbul that contribute to the sector and said, “We are carrying out technical committee studies under 10 different titles in order to develop projects in the areas needed by the defense industry, aviation and space sectors, to contribute to localization studies and to form opinions for the development of the sector. These technical committees work like project kitchens in coordination with other public institutions and organizations, R&D centers, and our universities. The committees are;
• Technical Committee on Material and Material Forming
• Technical Committee on Machinery and Other Manufacturing Equipment
• Technical Committee on Electrical and Electronics
• Technical Committee on Testing and Certification
• Technical Committee on Software Automation and Digital Transformation
• MİHENK National Aviation Industry Committee
• In addition to the Technical Committee on Subsystems, the following committees have recently been established, based on need:
• Logistics and Supply Chain Technical Committee
• Space Technical Committee
• Education Technical Committee
National ERP system development, 5 Axis CNC Machine Production (MILTEKSAN), development of cabin air conditioning system for aircraft (TASECS), rare earth elements, magnet production, technical textiles, PCB card production, establishment of overseas joint service centers within the scope of Technical Committee studies, In logistics and supply chain management, projects have been implemented or continue to be developed on many different topics such as ensuring the digital transformation of companies, artificial intelligence applications, and the development of autonomous underwater vehicles.”
