Erdogan: Defense exports reached $4.4 billion last year

Speaking at the New Generation Storm Howitzer Delivery Ceremony at the BMC Plant of the Arifiye Campus of the Ministry of National Defense in Sakarya, President Erdoğan said, "Our defense exports, which were only 248 million dollars 20 years ago, broke a record last year with 4 billion 400 million dollars." President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan spoke at the New Generation Storm Howitzer Delivery Ceremony at the BMC Plant of the Arifiye Campus of the Ministry of National Defense in Sakarya. Wishing that the six Storm Howitzers would bring good luck to the country, Erdoğan stated that the day has come when the annual budget allocated to research and development in the defense industry has increased from 49 million dollars to 1.5 billion dollars. Stating that defense exports were only 248 million dollars 20 years ago, Erdoğan stated that a record was broken last year with 4 billion 400 million dollars. Erdoğan, who stated that while only 56 companies were operating in the defense industry in 2002, today this number has exceeded 2,000, said, "While a total of 5.5 billion dollars worth of defense projects were being carried out, today this amount has exceeded 60 billion dollars. When we include projects in the tender process, this figure rises to 75 billion dollars. While there were only 2 of our companies on the list of the world's top 100 defense companies, today 7 of our companies represent us."