Turkish Defense industry achieves self-sufficiency in military cable production

By Ulviyya Shahin

Military cable dependence on foreign sources decreases. However, domestic production rises, serving more than 50 Turkish defence industry companies.

Cables meeting military standards used in national platforms developed within the Turkish defence industry are being nationalised. Established through a brand partnership in 2021 and gaining legal personality in 2023, M?LKAB (National Cable) Defence Industry Inc., within the scope of the National Technology Move, acquired military cables sourced from abroad. At this stage, M?LKAB is intensively engaged in producing cables for land, air, sea, rocket, missile, and satellite platforms, requiring R&D and design efforts and operating under challenging working conditions.

Producing cables that comply with military standards, are highly resistant to wear, friction, impact, temperature, chemicals, and corrosion, halogen-free, fire-resistant, low-smoke density, resistant to strength, and suitable for all special purposes, M?LKAB completed its first successful product development work with the Silikon Güç Grubu Kablo Ailesi (Silicon Power Group Cable Family) for the ASELSAN Gücümüz Bir (Our Power One) Platform. In a short time, M?LKAB has reached a point where it serves more than 50 Turkish defence industry companies in its nationalisation efforts.

Yavuz Ekinci, General Manager of M?LKAB, stated that in line with the strategy of creating a strong sub-industry for SMEs within the framework of the leadership of the Presidency of Defence Industries, such as ASELSAN, TUSA?, HAVELSAN, ROKETSAN, ??B?R, FNSS, BMC, NUROL, OTOKAR, and shipyards, many original design platform projects have been implemented by mentoring in the production of subsystems, components, parts, and components.

Ekinci emphasised that M?LKAB aims to eliminate foreign dependence on cables requiring military standards within these platforms and mentioned that they have quickly made their cable product families available for use on platform and subsystem bases.

Intensive work for national defence products

Expressing their pride and happiness in supporting the efforts to increase the domesticity rate in the defence industry within the framework of the National Technology Move, Ekinci stated: "Our main goal is to produce cables used in defence industry projects, which are sourced from abroad, using domestic resources and capabilities. We are striving to bring these products to our defence industry cost-effectively, with quality and speed, after R&D, testing, and qualification processes.

By nationalising silicone power cables within the ASELSAN Gücümüz Bir Platform, we became one of the 150 companies supporting this effort in the Platform. Taking strength from the product nationalisation we made for ASELSAN, our cooperation continues for the nationalisation of cables used in various projects of ROKETSAN and HAVELSAN. In addition, our collaborations with manufacturers engaged in wiring activities for our main contractor companies are increasing in a cost-effective manner."

Enriching product portfolio

Stating that they aim to be a reliable strategic business partner for the Turkish defence industry in military cable production, Ekinci said that they continue their activities with the effort to achieve the difficult goal by using R&D-based studies and utilising the testing and certification infrastructure in the country.

Yavuz Ekinci mentioned that they also take steps to export cables used in domestic projects to friendly and allied countries, taking the Strategic Plan published by the Presidency of Defence Industries for the 2024-2028 period as a guide. He noted that they continue to work to enrich localization-nationalization efforts, increase export opportunities, and expand the product portfolio.