Turkey’s historic small-arms manufacturer Sarsılmaz signed a major procurement contract at IDEF 2025, agreeing with the Defense Industry Agency (SSB) to deliver 84,800 SAR9 METE pistols to the General Directorate of Security (Emniyet) and the Gendarmerie General Command. The ceremony, attended by SSB President Haluk Görgün and Sarsılmaz Chairman Latif Aral Aliş, marks a continuation of the company’s long-standing role supplying service pistols to Turkish security forces — bringing total deliveries to law enforcement toward the half-million mark over prior years.

The SAR9 METE program, launched in 2016, has completed extensive durability and qualification testing: Sarsılmaz reports successful 30,000-round endurance trials on multiple sample pistols and full completion of quality assurance protocols. The company emphasized that the SAR9 METE is entirely developed by domestic engineering teams, aligning with national localization and supply-security goals. Sarsılmaz’s strategic partnership with TUSAŞ through TR Mekatronik (in which Sarsılmaz holds a 50% stake) further underlines the firm’s involvement in medium-caliber weapon programs and its contribution to the wider defence industrial base.

Beyond handguns, Sarsılmaz showcased its expanding R&D scope at the fair — including indigenous robotic dogs and AR-pattern platforms chambered in 7.62×39 — pointing to an integrated product roadmap that addresses both infantry and unmanned systems requirements. Commercially, the firm also highlighted specially designed anti-drone ammunition developed in its own ammunition plant; these rounds are positioned as cost-effective countermeasures to the proliferation of weaponized and kamikaze drones on modern battlefields.

Sarsılmaz officials stated that Turkey remains the primary market priority but reiterated ambitions to increase exports as production scales. The 84,800-unit contract will both standardize small-arms across security services and support national objectives of supply resilience, domestic employment and technological advancement in the firearms sector.