“Societies that stand on their own two feet in defense will win”

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Yilmaz made the following assessments: “What is happening in Lebanon tells us many things in this sense. Countries can now have conflicts with each other in very different ways.

We see that very different methods and technologies are used in both terrorist attacks and conflicts between countries. In this regard, societies that can stand on their own two feet will win. Those who are dependent on others must also trust in the mercy of others.” Underlining that the successes achieved by the Turkish defense industry are tangibly evident both in statistics and in the field, Yılmaz reported that the defense industry localization rate, which was around 20 percent, has increased to 80 percent.

Emphasizing that competencies specialized in a single field are no longer sufficient in the defense industry, Yilmaz said, “There is an increasing need for talents who are specialized in various disciplines such as engineering, computer science, mathematics, physics and biotechnology, and who can also think flexibly and innovatively.”

“The National Competency Move will gain momentum”

President of the Presidency of Defense Industries (SSB) Haluk Görgün said that the National Competency Initiative is a strategic turning point in Turkey’s vision of becoming a global power. Görgün said, “I believe that this initiative will trigger a major transformation not only in the defense industry but also in our country’s technology, economy and innovation ecosystem.

“The National Competency Initiative will add momentum to this process in which we are taking firm steps towards becoming a strong and globally influential country in the defense industry,” he said.

Pointing out that one of their main goals is to manage the transformation and competencies in defense industry technologies, Görgün expressed that it is of great importance to create a systematic structure within this ecosystem, conduct technological competency analyses, roadmaps and competency architecture studies for human resources in this direction.