Turkish Aerospace Industries to expand defense cooperation with Malaysia

Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) is expanding defense contracts with Malaysia amid new collaborations, the firm’s CEO said on the sidelines of the Defense Services Asia (DSA) 2026 event in Kuala Lumpur.

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim visited the TAI booth at the event and signed a full-scale model of the TAI Hurjet jet trainer on display.

TAI CEO Mehmet Demiroglu welcomed the event in Malaysia's capital as one of Asia's most established and largest defense fairs, noting that the company has strong ties with Malaysia, particularly with the delivery of three ANKA unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to the Malaysian Air Force.

“Our work with Malaysia continues with UAVs and the Hurjet program,” he said. “We have a TAI office in the country with more than 120 workers, serving as a bridge between Türkiye and Malaysia.”

Demiroglu stated that Malaysia is a key defense partner for Türkiye, noting that other Turkish firms are expected to participate in new and larger projects in the region.

“Malaysia is one of the leading developing countries and in many respects a developed country with close ties with Türkiye in the defense sector,” he said.

“The expo attracted massive interest, and we believe TAI and Türkiye’s defense industry will bring even larger projects to life in the coming years,” he added.

*Writing by Emir Yildirim in Istanbul