Hundreds of people stop by the booths of Turkish enterprises during the IDEAS 2022 defense show.
On the second day of the defence exhibition, attendees and international delegates continue to be drawn in by miniature drones and specialized clothing.
KARACHI: On the second day of a significant defence show being held in Karachi on Wednesday, hundreds of local and foreign delegates and visitors flocked to the booths of Turkish firms.
At the four-day event, which started on Tuesday, some 28 of Turkiye’s leading defence manufacturers are showing their military equipment.
In addition to STM (Savunma Teknolojileri Mühendislik ve Ticaret AS), Roketson, Meteksan, ASFAD, Makin eve Kimya Endustrisim, Tualcom, and others, they also contain Makin eve Kimya Endustrisim.
The defence exposition, a major defence expo in South Asia, is attended by more than 260 delegates from 64 nations and about 300 international defence manufacturers from 32 countries.
After a hiatus of four years, the biennial event IDEAS 2022 is held as the 2020 fair was postponed owing to the coronavirus epidemic. Turkiye has the largest presence at the exhibition, along with China.
Read more: IDEAS-2022 displays cutting-edge weapons
Major General Arif Malik, the director general of the nation’s defence exports development authority, and Governor Sindh Kamran Tessori also paid a visit to the Turkish pavilion.
Tessori, who during his visit indicated interest in Turkish defence goods, believed that Ankara’s “massive” participation in the fair would pave the way for fresh possibilities for cross-border collaboration in the defence and security sectors.
Mini drones draw crowds
A wide variety of items from Turkish defence firms are on show, including military hardware, tactical mini-UAV systems, light weapons, artificial intelligence, and cybersecurity solutions.
However, the STM pavilion’s micro drones (mini-UAV systems) remained the major draw.
“We have never before observed (military) drones at such close range. Arif Jameel, a retired government official who went to the Turkish pavilion his family, told Anadolu Agency that they are merely remarkable.
His wife, dressed in a dark robe and matching shawl, stated in a lighter voice, “And I have never seen such enormous drones before,” as an STM representative explained drone technology to a group of Pakistan Army commanders.
Many people came to see the variety of “better armaments” made by Canik, a group of five defence businesses, including handguns, light and heavy machine guns, and specialised clothing.
Tualcom Elektronik, which works with RF and communication technology, has received a “good” response from both domestic and foreign delegates, according to Ahmet Salih Erdem, the company’s deputy general manager.
According to Erdem, his company is displaying a number of innovative defence items, including the world’s smallest anti-jamming CNSS System, telemetry, flight termination, and products connected to electronic warfare.
According to Can Gursoy, a representative of Meteksan, one of Turkey’s largest defence industry firms, both domestic and foreign customers have expressed interest in the company’s products, particularly its communication systems, perimeter surveillance systems, laser and electro-optic systems, and radar systems.
He stated that the business also creates simulators and underwater acoustic devices.
