Aselsan signs $1.1bn air-defence export deal with unnamed buyer

The 3 November filing

For buyers and competitors, the size is the story. That single contract is more than half the $1.9 billion in export agreements Aselsan booked across the first nine months of 2026. What remains unknown is who bought the systems, what they cover and when they ship.

The filing said the agreement would have a positive effect on revenue. Turkish media have suggested the latest customer could be a Gulf state, although that remains unconfirmed. Countries in the region have been expanding their air defences following the conflict between the United States and Iran and operations by Houthi rebels.

A big export against a record backlog

The backlog is a record. Aselsan's order book stood at $30.7 billion at the end of September, and the company secured $14 billion in new contracts in the first nine months of 2026, including $1.9 billion in export agreements.

New export contracts rose 34% from a year earlier. Revenue rose 28% after inflation adjustment to 151.5 billion Turkish Liras, or about $3.03 billion. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization rose 38% to 40.6 billion liras, with the margin up 190 basis points to 26.8%. Investment in production capacity and technology rose 228% to $684 million over the same period.

The growth is not new. Aselsan booked $4.9 billion in contracts in the first half of 2026, up 72% from the same period in 2025.

General manager Ahmet Akyol said dollar-based third-quarter growth rose from 18% in 2024 and 29% in 2025 to 42% this year. The book-to-bill ratio climbed to 4.4 in the third quarter.

The October precedent and the missing buyer

The $1.1 billion deal follows a separate air-defence export contract worth 488.5 million euros disclosed on 2 October, also with an unnamed overseas customer.

The export follows several domestic deals. Over the past few months Aselsan signed multiple contracts with Turkey's Presidency of Defense Industries, known as SSB, for air defence systems. Together they total in the multi-billion dollar range.

Export contracts announced in October covered the overseas sale of radar, counter-drone, command-and-control and other defence systems.

What Aselsan sells and where it ranks

Aselsan supplies radar and fire control systems for Turkey's layered air defences. Its Korkut fire control system can coordinate 35-millimetre anti-aircraft guns with Hisar-A+ short-range missile launchers. The Hisar family also includes Hisar-O for medium-altitude air defence. For long-range defence, Aselsan works with missile maker Roketsan and defence research institute TUBITAK SAGE on the Siper system, designed to counter fighter aircraft, cruise missiles and drones.

Aselsan rose from 43rd to 40th in the 2026 Defense News Top 100, which ranks companies by defence revenue in the previous year. That is a first for a Turkish firm. It remained the highest-ranked among five Turkish companies on the list.

Capacity spending, not a delivery date

What Aselsan will talk about is where the money goes.

The company says a substantial share of its profits is being reinvested in production capacity and research and development. Research and development spending rose 36% to $1.3 billion. The first phase of its Ogulbey Technology Base began operating as Aselsan expanded facilities to meet demand.

Akyol put the strategy plainly. "We do not wait for orders to outpace our capacity. We turn orders into capacity, and capacity into the future," he said.

What happens next is not public. Aselsan has given no delivery date for the $1.1 billion contract, and the KAP filing offered nothing beyond the 3 November announcement.