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Turkish defense contractor Aselsan will establish Europe's largest air defense facility as part of a $1.5 billion investment project, marking the most significant single defense industry investment in Türkiye's history, company officials announced Thursday.
Aselsan General Manager Ahmet Akyol said the Ogulbey Technology Base represents the foundation for the company's next 50 years of operations, spanning 6,500 acres and valued at $1.5 billion.
"With the Ogulbey Technology Base, we have laid the foundation of the largest defense investment in the history of the Republic in a single project," Aselsan General Manager Ahmet Akyol told Anadolu Agency (AA).
Akyol noted that the project represented the foundation for the company's next 50 years of operations, spanning 6,500 acres and valued at $1.5 billion.
The facility will be developed in phases starting in 2026 and the project as a whole is expected to create more than 5,000 qualified jobs over the next five years.
"These (projects are) where the Türkiye of the future is being built. We are witnessing history here," Akyol said as he emphasized the strategic importance of the investment, comparing it to Aselsan's humble beginnings in 1975 on a 180-acre site in Ankara's Yenimahalle district.
Aselsan already delivered 47 components—valued at $460 million—of the Steel Dome project to the Turkish army. Steel Dome is a multi-layered air defense system developed by Türkiye using domestic technology.
"These are systems developed entirely by our domestic and national engineers," Akyol said.
The Steel Dome architecture integrates various defense technologies, including communications, radar, electro-optics, and command control systems, operating as a unified system managed by artificial intelligence-supported software from a central location.
The company inaugurated 14 new production facilities this week, achieving a 40% increase in its production capacity. The facilities will support the manufacture of advanced systems, including optics, for the Kizilelma and KAAN national aircraft programs.
"The facility is rapidly being used in the production of critical projects. We have gained the opportunity to produce the accumulations, designs and technologies we have acquired for years in higher numbers," he noted.
The new facilities enabled the creation of over 3,000 new jobs and will support the development of next-generation technologies including the ASELFLIR-600 camera system, which the company describes as superior to its predecessors.
The Steel Dome system will integrate with unmanned aerial vehicles including Akinci, Aksungur and Kizilelma drones, creating coordinated operational capabilities. Systems delivered so far include SIPER, HISAR, KORKUT AIC and MCT, ALP, and PUHU defense platforms.
"The (Steel Dome) will also work integrated with UAVs, Akinci, Aksungur and Kizilelma, and will conduct joint operations," Akyol said. "We are truly achieving a 'system of systems' level of integration," he noted.
Aselsan has grown from 2,000 employees in 2004 to more than 12,000 in 2025, becoming one of Türkiye's largest companies and finding itself among Europe's major defense contractors.
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