ASELSAN signed a $1.1 billion export contract for air defense systems with an international customer. This agreement represents the largest single-item export contract in the company's history and demonstrates both ASELSAN's export performance in 2026 and the global market potential of Turkey's layered air defense architecture.

ASELSAN is one of Turkey's leading defense electronics and systems companies. Founded in 1975, the company develops radar systems, communications equipment, electronic warfare solutions, weapon control systems, command-and-control infrastructure, and counter-unmanned aerial vehicle technologies. The company's technological expertise and production capacity represent a cornerstone of the Turkish defense industry ecosystem. In the first nine months of 2026, ASELSAN's total revenue increased by 28 percent to 151.5 billion Turkish lira, while foreign sales rose from approximately 11.1 billion lira to 26.9 billion lira.

Air defense systems are critical components of modern defense architectures. Moving away from single-system approaches, contemporary threat environments have led nations to adopt integrated air defense architectures composed of complementary layers. These architectures require coordinated operation of early warning radars, electro-optical sensors, command-and-control systems, electronic warfare solutions, medium-altitude missile systems, and close-in air defense weapons. ASELSAN's broad product portfolio across these domains enables the company to deliver integrated solutions to customers.

Turkey's ÇELIKKÜBBE (Steel Dome) approach, developed within the framework of layered air defense capabilities, is based on different sensors and weapon systems operating within a common architecture. ASELSAN's HİSAR family (short-to-medium altitude), GÜRZ (hybrid solution), KORKUT (close-in air defense), radar systems, electronic warfare solutions, and command-and-control infrastructure form the core components of this ecosystem. This integrated approach positions air defense not merely as a weapon system engaging targets, but as a comprehensive capability combining detection, identification, tracking, decision-making, and engagement processes.

Air defense systems exports carry significant potential for long-term business relationships. Such systems extend beyond initial delivery to generate ongoing requirements in training, maintenance, spare parts, software updates, modernization, and system integration. This creates opportunities for initial contracts to be supported by additional agreements over time. In 2026, ASELSAN signed other significant contracts, including a $442.5 million agreement for radar, counter-UAV measures, and command-and-control systems, and a €488.5 million contract for air defense systems.