Turkey's Aselsan tapped for $125M electronic warfare contract

ANKARA, Turkey — Military-electronics specialist Aselsan, Turkey's biggest defense company, has announced that it won a $125 million (€116 million) contract to develop and produce electronic warfare suites.

The contract was signed between Aselsan, a government-controlled entity, and STM, another government-owned company specialized in defense engineering. Aselsan said it would deliver the systems in 2020.

"This [contract] is consistent with a Turkish policy to further nationalize its EW suites," said one industry source.

In February Aselsan announced a sharp rise in its net profit for 2016, at $220 million, an increase of 273 percent from $60 million in 2015. Its 2016 sales rose by 36 percent to $1.04 billion.

Meanwhile, Aselsan appointed a new board chairman at a March 15 meeting. Ibrahim Ozkol, a professor of aerospace sciences, replaces Mustafa Murat Seker as chairman of the board of directors. Seker will continue on as a board member for another year.

Aselsan's new boards members are Professor Haluk Gorgun, Ankara Gov. Ercan Topaca, retired Navy officer Emin Sami Orguc and Bayram Genccan.

Two other top Turkish defense companies have appointed new board chairmen. Tusas Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) said Oguz Borat, an academic at the Istanbul University of Commerce, was appointed as the new board chairman. Professor Abdullah Cavusoglu, an academic and former vice president of the state scientific research institute TUBITAK, was appointed as board chairman of Havelsan, a military-software specialist.

Majority shares at all three companies are owned by the Turkish Armed Forces Foundation.

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