ASELSAN expands NATO cooperation into strategic partnership

Turkish defense company ASELSAN is expanding its cooperation with NATO from procurement projects to a broader strategic partnership. In a statement on Monday, ASELSAN said its cooperation with NATO, which began in the 1990s with the production of electronic components for Stinger air defense missiles, has expanded into a wide range of areas, from the modernization of submarine communication stations to Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) systems and air defense concept studies.

NATO air defense selection

ASELSAN is among five companies selected by the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) for the Modular Ground-Based Air Defense (Modular GBAD) Concept Stage, working alongside Airbus, Lockheed Martin UK, Raytheon, and Thales LAS. The project aims to develop flexible, interoperable system infrastructures that meet NATO's operational and logistical requirements. Under the agreement, the five contractors will initially focus on concept studies involving system architecture development, with deliverables planned for mid-September.

Growing NATO engagement

ASELSAN recently signed a framework agreement for its IDENTIA 4000I Portable IFF Interrogator after winning an IFF tender against a leading global supplier, with deliveries to NATO countries expected to begin in the coming months. The company has also taken part in more than 50 NATO working groups over the past three years and participated in the NATO CWIX 2025 exercise with its air command-and-control systems. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte visited ASELSAN's Gölbaşı Technology Base in April, praising the company's engineers as key drivers of Türkiye's defense industrial transformation.