Türkiye and Saudi Arabia aim to move their defence industry relationship beyond product sales towards joint production, technology transfer and mutual investment, according to Roketsan General Manager Murat İkinci. İkinci, who is also deputy chairman of the SAHA Istanbul defence and aerospace cluster, made the remarks at the Türkiye–Saudi Arabia Defence Industry Days in Istanbul, the Turkish news outlet GDH reported on 12 November.
Defence Industry Days in Istanbul
The two-day event opened in Istanbul on 11 November and brought together 72 Turkish and 30 Saudi companies for business-to-business (B2B) meetings and high-level talks, SSBülten and Ajans Savunma reported, citing SAHA Istanbul’s social media accounts. The organisers said it aims to strengthen cooperation between the two countries’ defence industry ecosystems.
What İkinci said
According to GDH, İkinci said Türkiye has reached significant production and engineering capacity in defence. He said Turkish defence products are in use in more than 180 countries, and that cooperation should not be limited to supplying products. Roketsan prioritises joint production, technology transfer and long-term industrial partnerships, he said.
He said Roketsan has started cooperation with the Saudi defence companies NCMS and SAMI (Saudi Arabian Military Industries), and wants it to extend beyond the large firms. “As Roketsan, we have started very good cooperation with NCMS and SAMI,” İkinci said, as quoted by GDH. “But we are aiming not only for cooperation between ourselves, but for cooperation that extends to SMEs and to the supply chain.”
İkinci said Roketsan took more than 15 Turkish companies from its supply chain to the World Defense Show in Riyadh, and that these firms are working to build ties with Saudi industrial companies.
He named the priority areas for future cooperation:
- autonomous systems
- integrated air and missile defence systems
- rocket and missile propulsion technologies
- space systems
He said joint research and development in these fields would offer major opportunities for both countries. Türkiye’s engineering capability and series-production experience could support Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 industrialisation and localisation goals, he added.
İkinci described SAHA Istanbul, with more than 1,300 member firms, as Europe’s largest technology cluster. He said defence partnerships should include SMEs, subcontractors and technology start-ups as well as major companies. He said the company-to-company meetings are expected to lay the ground for new projects, and that the joint will expressed in what he called the Mecca agreement should be turned into concrete defence industry projects, according to GDH.
Building on agreements signed in Riyadh
The remarks build on deals Roketsan signed at the World Defense Show (WDS) 2026 in Riyadh in February:
- Roketsan signed a memorandum of understanding with Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Investment (MISA) and the General Authority for Military Industries (GAMI). It covers creating and developing investment opportunities in the defence and aerospace sector and strengthening local suppliers and the national supply chain, Anadolu Agency reported.
- Roketsan also signed a cooperation agreement with SAMI for the joint production of cruise missiles in Saudi Arabia. A separate contract with SAMI Land Systems covers sales and joint production of anti-tank guided missile systems, Türkiye Today reported. Roketsan did not specify which missile types would be produced.
What is not known
- Whether new agreements were signed during the Istanbul event.
- Which specific programmes, missile types or timelines the joint production plans involve.
- No statement from GAMI, SAMI or Türkiye’s Defence Industry Agency (SSB) on the Istanbul event was found at the time of publication.
Sources
- GDH, 12 November 2026 (primary source, Murat İkinci’s remarks): gdhdijital.com
- SSBülten, 11 November 2026: ssbulten.com.tr
- Ajans Savunma, 11 November 2026: ajanssavunma.com
- Anadolu Agency, 10 February 2026 (Roketsan–MISA–GAMI memorandum): aa.com.tr
- Türkiye Today, 15 February 2026 (Roketsan–SAMI agreements): turkiyetoday.com
Related: Roketsan company profile