Erdogan vows for turning point for defence industry in 2023

Ankara, Jan 10 Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has vowed to make 2023 a year of a turning point for the country's indigenous defence industries.

"We are determined to make 2023 a turning point in the defence industry along with other fields," Erdogan said at a ceremony for the delivery of six new domestically made Firtina (Storm) howitzers to the Turkish Armed Forces in Sakarya province.

Two more Altay main battle tanks will be handed over to the army for tests before its planned serial production in 2025, the President announced, adding that this number will reach 140 in total, reports Xinhua news agency.

Turkish fighter drone Kizilelma, officially known as the National Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle System, will carry out its flight maneuver tests in 2023, he said.

Turkey will get the National Combat Aircraft (MMU) out of the hangar and present it to the public in 2023, Erdogan added.

All systems of the aircraft are successfully installed and its tests for the flight control system, engine and hydraulic systems are made, Temel Kotil, general manager of Turkish Aerospace Industries, told local CnnTurk broadcaster on Monday.

Turkey started to develop the TF-X or MMU project, its fifth-generation fighter aircraft, in 2011 and accelerated the process after the US excluded its NATO ally from the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program due to Ankara's purchase of Russian S-300 air defence systems.

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