THE ASCENSION OF TURKEY AS A DRONE POWER

ABSTRACT

This analysis historically contextualizes and empirically analyzes Turkey’s “drone strategy” by focusing on industrial, military, and geopolitical dimensions.

This paper investigates the trajectories of Turkey’s drone program, its historical origins, strategical rationality, and geopolitical implications. The paper historically contextualizes and empirically analyzes Turkey’s “drone strategy” by focusing on industrial, military, and geopolitical dimensions. In the first part, it examines the historical evolution of Turkey’s drone program. The second part assesses Turkish companies’ successful initiatives and their impacts on Turkey’s boosting drone industry. In the third and final part, the paper seeks to unpack the question of how Turkey’s robust unmanned aerial systems development program serves Turkey’s geopolitical interests and military power projection in conflict zones such as Syria and Libya.

INTRODUCTION

In the last decade, the Turkish defense industry has received a lot of attention. There are many driving factors behind Turkey’s changing defense strategy. The changing nature of Turkey’s threat perception, the security landscape in the post-Arab Spring era in the Middle East and North Africa, and Turkey’s grand strategy in the defense industry can be considered the main drivers behind the rise of Turkey’s defense industry. The Syrian civil war and its conflict spillover effect on Turkey’s security landscape were particularly important factors as well. In this regard, Turkey’s drone program and its effectiveness on the battlefield are strategically important. The strained diplomatic relations between Turkey and Western countries drove Turkey to become one of the world’s leading manufacturers and users of unmanned aerial systems. Turkey has made tremendous strides in its national unmanned aerial vehicle development program in the past decades. The tactical effectiveness, strength, and survivability of Turkey’s UAVs in Syria, Iraq, Libya, and the southeast of Turkey have enabled Turkey’s products to be labeled as “combat proven” and have given Turkey a highly prestigious reputation in the worldwide drone market - as opposed to many of its competitors. Turkey’s maximization of its drone power has both led to a transformation in conventional military norms and practices and turned out to be the new game-changer of the global power struggle. This paper sheds light on the trajectories of Turkey’s drone program by taking into consideration historical turning points, the strategic rationality behind its drone industry, and geopolitical implications. More importantly, the paper historically contextualizes and empirically analyzes Turkey’s “drone strategy” by focusing on industrial, military, and geopolitical dimensions. In the first part, the paper examines the historical evolution of Turkey’s drone program. The second part assesses Turkish companies’ successful initiatives and their impacts on Turkey’s boosting drone industry. In the third and final part, the paper seeks to unpack the question of how Turkey’s robust unmanned aerial systems development program serves Turkey’s geopolitical interests and its military power projection in conflict zones such as Syria and Libya.

CONCLUSION

For a nation once largely reliant on foreign technology to maximize its military power, the development of indigenously built technologies is crucial in terms of gaining strategic independence not only in combating terrorism but also in gaining strategic leverage against Turkey’s rivals. In the past decades, serious progress has been achieved in developing UAV systems, subsystems, and promoting the required human resources and know-how. Turkey’s domestically introduced drone program contributed to improving Turkey’s warfighting capabilities as an efficient user, while concurrently Turkey benefitted from shaping the market as a competitive manufacturer. Most importantly, Turkey’s drone program has paved the way for a transformation in conventional military norms and practices. Turkish UAVs have been materialized as a decisive counterterrorism tool and have served as artillery forward observers, forward air controllers, and fighter aircraft in highly contested operational environments. What is more, Turkey seized the opportunity to demonstrate its coordinated and network-centric warfare capabilities with the help of these innovative products. Serving as a guarantor and protector of Turkey’s geopolitical interests, Turkish drones may become more operative in the ongoing conflict zones in the near term. The efficient utilization of such a multifaceted and multitasking technological asset depends on the generation of new military norms and C2 regulations. Otherwise, in a world in which there is a growing tendency for autonomous systems and artificial intelligence, the TAF’s readiness for the future combat environment will remain questionable.

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by SETA