Turkish company ASELSAN

Turkey is very interesting country. From the very beginning the fact that everyone works hasd like a bee is immediately catches your eye. Factories, supermarkets and shops, bakeries and hairdressing salons, building and touristic companies, etc. And what about the scientific research? Each year Turkish government allocates 900 million dollars for construction and research work and promises to increase this amount in the nearest future. Let's consider Turkish company ASELSAN, which employs almost 5,500 people.  In 2017 ASELSAN won 57th place in the world among the largest defense enterprises according to the publishing house Defense News. The company's ambitions are to become number 50 in the world by 2023. ASELSAN invests in scientific research 300 million dollars per year. ASELSAN employs about 2600 employees in its research centers (there are six of them). All the centers are certified by the Ministry of Science of Turkey. ASELSAN products are being exported to 60 countries of the world. Pretty good result, isn't it.  This is what makes me wonder. The population of Turkey is almost 80 million of people. Between the ages of 25 and 64, only 46% got a complete secondary education. It simply means that less than half of the entire population is graduated from school!!! Only 17% of the population (from 25 to 64 years old) received higher education and this doesn't mean that all of these people continue working in the same direction that mentioned in their diploma. How do these Turks manage to promote science and technology with such data? Well, practicality has not been canceled yet. They buy ideas, parse them into "alpha particles", then release on this basis something of their own and sell it. Turkey wants to get away from the dependence of imports and this is actually very good. At the same time they promote export of their own products. Thus, a small group of scientific researchers in Turkey are engaged in deduction of finished products and it works pretty good for them. Of course, they have their own developments. Isn't it remarkable that such a small number of educated people create quite a lot of innovations.  Defensive company ASELSAN was founded in 1975. The main goal of the company was to satisfy the needs of Turkish armed forces. ASELSAN's shares have been growing dynamically since 2010. In 2017, they grew by 133%. That's where you had to invest! Just to compare, shares of Turkish "blue chip", Garanti bank, grew in 2017 by 45% only. It looks like military developments in Turkey are in a full swing right now.  What does ASELSAN offer to its clients and the Turkish Armed Forces? The leader of Turkish defense industry develops, produces and sells the following: 1.Military communications systems. 2.Communication systems of public security. 3.Space technology. 4.Cryptography systems and information security. 5.Information security systems. 6.Electro-optical systems. 7.Navigation and avionics. 8.Marine communication and security systems. 9.Air and missile defense systems. 10.Comandor control, communication and computer systems. 11.Unmanned systems. 12.Different security systems. 13.Weapons. 14.Radar systems. 15.Electronic combat systems. 16.Transport systems. 17.Energy systems. 18.Integral electronics  ASELSAN offers its customers high-quality service after purchase. An interesting fact is that 29 contracts were signed in 2017 for a total sum of 1.7 billion dollars. The company demonstrated maximum shares value in November 2017, it was 45.22 lire. Now they cost around 31.7 liras.  _TASMUS_ One of the main developments for the Turkish military is the combat management system TASMUS. TASMUS (Tactical Field Communication System) is a mobile networking communication infrastructure that receives, processes and issues information in real time.  _Electromagnetic gun [TUFAN](http://www.millisavunma.com/aselsan-tufan-elektromanyetik-top-sistemi/)_ At the IDEF-2017 exhibition of military equipment in Istanbul, ASELSAN presented the model of the TUFAN rail-gun. The USA has been working on the models of electromagnetic guns since 2000. In 2016, Russia also tested their domestic rail-gun. The rail-gun is an electromagnetic accelerator of current-carrying projectiles. Turkish gun will be installed on frigates, for example, TF-2000, which Turkey plans to start using from 2023. At the moment TF-2000 is in the design development.  ASELSAN is engaged in development and implementation of automatic traffic control, traffic management and automatic payments collection on the roads. Systems for the prevention of road accidents and vehicle recognition systems are being developed as well. As we see, the company is not only engaged in military development.  Modern research is also going on in information security, as well as in cryptography. ASELSAN pays a lot of attention to the development of multi function displays, navigation and control panels. Defense News reports that the concern is going to modernize Russian helicopters from the Mile factory. Test helicopter MI-17 has already been upgraded with ASELSAN equipment.  _Unmanned aerial vehicles_ As part of ASELSAN's activity, unmanned aerial vehicles are being developed and manufactured. They are used in surveillance and reconnaissance, as well as in the safety management of critical facilities and in border control. Developments of unmanned underwater vehicles equipped with navigation and remote controlled are also very interesting. The unmanned ground vehicle KAPLAN conducts ground control, serves as a device for mine detection and neutralization, and has a number of other uses.  _Portable satellite communication terminal_ ASELSAN also creates satellite systems for civil and military use. Its technologies satisfy needs in the field of satellite communications, surveillance and navigation. Ground portable terminals have been created, as well as terminals for water transport including submarines. There is a compact and light satellite communication device designed for unmanned installations. Modular ASELSAN systems for satellites have recently come into operation. Ambitious ASELSAN's plans are very extensive, so thet in the near future Turkey can enter the top ten countries that can produce their own satellites. Big project of creation of country's own satellite started in 2014 with the support of Turkish government, Türksat company, Research Institute TÜBİTAK and a number of other large technical companies, including ASELSAN. Türksat 6A is ready for testing, and is preparing to launch in 2020.  ASELSAN closely collaborates with university researchers. It holds conferences, contests and seminars. Best students and researchers works of are highly appreciated and encouraged by the company. ASELSAN considers all submitted projects very carefully. Innovative ideas can be submitted directly to the company's website. If the research department is interested and appreciates it, ASELSAN will pay you a fee. If you have interesting ideas, don't hesitate, go for it!  As you can see, Turkish research institutes are growing, developing ideas and offering them to technical companies, which implement these projects. ASELSAN occupies a very special niche in this direction. It would be great though if these ideas and implementations would be peaceful and creative, and military innovations are transformed into civil ones. After I have experienced the events of July 15, 2016 in Istanbul, I want peace more then ever. A military coup happened on that day in Turkey. It was the first time in my life I heard the humming of military aircraft, which dropped two bombs nearby our house. The building was shaking like there was an earthquake. It's really hard to forget. Reaction of Turkish people nearby seemed very weird to me. They were calm and even joked. There was only one explanation for me. Historically, warrior's character of Turkish nation is not a subject to fears of hostilities. I have ambiguous relationships with Turkey. I'm trying to understand this country better. Considering the scientific development of the country, I realized that all it's forces at the moment are directed to a greater extension of military projects. In my next articles I'll tell you more about other companies and what they offer the world. Photos are from the official website of the company [ASELSAN](http://www.aselsan.com.tr/tr-tr/hakkimizda/Sayfalar/Default.aspx).