Turkish Firms Sign $6.5B Contracts to Strengthen 'Steel Dome' Defense System

Turkish defense companies have signed contracts worth $6.5 billion to strengthen and advance Turkey's integrated, multi-layered "Steel Dome" air defense system, the Turkish Defense Industries Presidency (SSB) announced on Wednesday.

NATO member Turkey, which in recent years has significantly ramped up its defence industry production and reduced dependence on external suppliers, first announced plans to build its Steel Dome - similar to Israel's Iron Dome system - in July 2024, The Caspian Post reports citing foreign media.

The project is comprised of 47 components, including radars, missiles, electro-optical sensors, command and control centers, and air defense elements with different ranges.

Strikes by Israel - the Middle East's most advanced military with hundreds of U.S.-supplied F-15, F-16 and F-35 fighters - on Turkey's neighbours Iran and Syria, as well as on Lebanon and Qatar, unnerved Ankara in the last year and pushed it to ramp up air power and air defence to counter any possible threats.

Turkey has also become a leading manufacturer and exporter of armed drones, with these being used in conflicts in Ukraine, Syria, Nagorno-Karabakh, and across Africa.

In a statement, SSB Chairman Haluk Gorgun said the contracts included combat systems and their advanced versions, which would be developed by Roketsan, adding that the 'Steel Dome' would be made of fully domestic systems.

Gorgun said the contracts would help increase Turkey’s deterrence, while also contributing to efforts to increase the range and scope of its combat systems.

The chairmen of defence firms Aselsan and Roketsan said the contracts were of "strategic importance", and added they included space and air defence systems, anti-tank systems, and other strategic systems.

Turkey has long said it is working to build up its defences, including long-range missiles, although officials and analysts say the Steel Dome project is years away.

Gorgun said Turkey was now among the top exporting countries in the world in the defence industry.