‘We can see anything anywhere in the world’ – Turkish Army

Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar announced that their latest military satellite is capable of monitoring any target from a height of 639 km, even targets that are the size of eggs anywhere in the world!

Noting that the defense industry is at a turning point with domestic and national weapons arising from the ban, National Defense Minister Hulusi Akar pointed to İMECE, which is the first domestic and national monitoring satellite.

“We have the ability to take an image the size of an egg from a distance of 639 kilometres,” Minister Akar said. “The genie is out of the bottle, and there is no going back now,” he said.

🔴 Hulusi Akar: “We launched our İMECE satellite, we can even see the egg from 639 KM all over the world.”

— Conflict (@ConflictTR) May 27, 2023

It is noteworthy that there are ongoing talks between Türkiye and Pakistan to export Turkish military satellite technology to Pakistan. Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) signed a cooperation agreement with Pakistan’s Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO) last year to develop space and satellite projects.

The Turkish defense giant TAI and SUPARCO will conduct joint studies on electric communication satellites and other space projects within the scope of the agreement.

In a statement on Twitter, TAI said: “We have signed a cooperation agreement with SUPARCO to develop satellite projects. We wish good luck to both countries.”

In December 2019, TAI opened its first office in Pakistan in the country’s National Science and Technology Park.

Speaking at Satellite Technologies Week held in December, TAI CEO Temel Kotil said they are looking for new customers for the SmallGEO satellite, an electric propulsion-powered communications satellite platform.

“It looks like we’ve found a client, but we’re not going to gossip about it because the deal hasn’t been finalized yet. If that happens, we will build three more satellites. A fourth customer has also appeared. When these satellites are completed, we will reach five satellites in total,” Kotil said, adding that if TAI manufactures these satellites in three or four years, Turkey will be able to achieve a good figure in satellite exports.

Turkey signed its first satellite export deal with an Argentine company in August at the International Defense Industries Fair (IDEF) held in Istanbul.

Recently, TAI also signed a memorandum of understanding on space and satellite systems with El Salvador during President Najib Bukele’s visit to Turkey last week.