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Türkiye's domestically developed T625 GOKBEY general-purpose helicopter joined the inventory of the General Directorate of Security on Wednesday, representing the latest addition to the country's growing fleet of domestically developed air platforms.
The handover marks the eighth GOKBEY delivery overall and the first to enter the General Directorate of Security's inventory.
A second helicopter is expected to join the police fleet shortly under the planned delivery schedule, while another is set to enter the Turkish Air Force inventory in October.
The delivery took place during a ceremony at Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) facilities in Ankara, about five months after the General Directorate of Security received a T129 ATAK helicopter, a T70 helicopter and an AKSUNGUR unmanned aerial vehicle at the same facilities on April 13.
Speaking at the event, Haluk Gorgun, head of the Presidency of Defense Industries, highlighted the helicopter's development and Türkiye's expanding domestic defense production capabilities.
Gorgun said the latest delivery reflects a broader production and delivery drive in the defense industry, where new platforms are being developed while serial production, maintenance, sustainment, modernization and configuration work continues.
The GOKBEY program began with Türkiye's goal of developing an indigenous general-purpose helicopter. The T625 made its first flight on Sept. 6, 2018, and has since completed about 3000 hours of flight testing, he noted.
The six-ton-class, twin-engine helicopter features a modern avionics architecture, advanced flight-control systems and a flexible design intended to serve different operational requirements.
More than 200 domestic companies are working on GOKBEY and subsequent national helicopter programs, covering the main contractor, subcontractors, small and medium-sized enterprises and research institutions.
Türkiye also aims to provide GOKBEY helicopters to additional civilian users, with the Health Ministry among the organizations targeted for future deliveries.
Türkiye has delivered 39 T70, 8 GOKBEY and 80 ATAK helicopters to domestic users so far, while 12 ATAK helicopters have been exported to friendly and allied countries, Gorgun said.
Domestic helicopter programs have prevented more than $8 billion in direct imports, according to Gorgun. When maintenance and sustainment costs over the platforms' service lives are included, the total economic contribution from Türkiye's helicopter programs exceeds $35 billion.
Gorgun also pointed to the broader expansion of the country's defense industry. In 2003, the former Undersecretariat for Defense Industries was managing 62 projects, most of them involving foreign procurement.
The Presidency of Defense Industries now manages 1486 projects simultaneously, while its project volume has risen from about $7.4 billion to more than $100 billion.
The domestic share of the defense industry has risen from about 20% to more than 80%, while Türkiye has become the world's 11th-largest defense and aerospace exporter, Gorgun said.
Five Turkish companies are also among the world's top 100 defense companies.
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