By Can Hasasu
LAS VEGAS (AA) - One of Türkiye's leading arms manufacturers, Canik, targets to produce duty pistols for US security forces in 2024, its CEO said.
Introducing its new pistol model, TTI Combat, at the world's largest arms fair held in Las Vegas, US, - Shot Show - Canik completed the necessary preparations to win the service pistol bid of the US security forces, Cahit Utku Aral told Anadolu.
The launch of the new pistol model, developed by the world-renowned Taran Butler and the TTI design team, was held at the Shot Show, which is defined as the world's largest arms fair.
Aral stated that despite a 35-40% contraction in the field of small arms in the US last year, Canik achieved to increase its sales by 10% in the country.
Canik's micro-compact pistol model Mete SC, introduced in 2023, was behind this success, he added.
Stating that the interest shown in the TTI Combat, which was introduced to the market this year, indicates that the same success will be repeated, Aral said that the firm was the fifth largest small arm importer in the US last year but the firm eyes on the third place this year.
"We are already predicting that 2024 will be a very good year for us. Of course, it will be a year in which our investments will continue," he underlined.
Reminding that the firm produces 400,000 light weapons annually, Aral said that a large portion of these weapons are exported to the US market.
Stating that the firm is building a new factory in the US state of Florida, Aral said, "In 2017, we were invited to the second largest tender after the US Army, the US Customs and Border Guard unit, and we won."
"Although we won the tender, they gave the job to another company which has a production facility in the US. So this will not happen again," he added.
Stating that to win the arms tender of the security forces, there are conditions such as making production in the US, Aral said that in addition to pistols, Canik's 12.7, 20, 25, and 30 mm machine guns and automatic cannons would also be produced in the factory.
- Weapons produced by Canik on the Ukrainian front
The company is facing an increasing demand for heavy machine guns, medium-caliber weapons and remote-controlled fire control systems, especially from active conflict zones such as the Russia-Ukraine War, and Syria, Iraq and Yemen in 2023.
Didem Aral, Canik's foreign trade manager, stated that the various types of weapons used on the Ukrainian front have proven themselves by giving a good test in a real combat environment and challenging climatic conditions and that Ukraine has sent a reference letter for the weapons in use, and that they have projects to use Canik as the national heavy machine gun of the Ukrainian army after the war.
Aral stated that Canik has previously armed attack boats of the Malaysian navy and that it offers heavy machine guns and integration solutions in Azerbaijan.
She underlined that the entire family of weapons with different calibers and functions are produced in-house and said, "Our speed in delivery times enables us to be far ahead of our other competitors."
Canik's shooting team captain, Nils Jonasson from the US, met with gun lovers at the company's stand at the Shot Show fairgrounds. He became the IDPA (International Defensive Pistol Association) World Champion in October 2023.
Jonasson, who has been competing using Canik's SFx platform until today, described the new TTI Combat model as "Thanks to the easily removable compensator installed in front of the barrel, the weapon shoots admirable and straight with minimal drift. It is also easy to clean."
He believes that Taran Butler has transferred the features seen in custom-made weapons to this design, which takes the weapon to a much higher level.
Participants of the exhibition who visited the Canik stated that they preferred Canik's weapons, which are durable, functional, and require less maintenance because they offer the highest level of features as standard without requiring expensive modifications.
Canik and its affiliated firm Samsun Yurt Savunma (SYS) Group Companies will participate in 14 international fairs in 2024, 12 of which will be held abroad.
In this context, the company is expected to open stands in countries like the US, France, Africa, Malaysia, Poland and Pakistan, after the World Defence Show in Saudi Arabia and the Enforce Tac and IWA fairs in Germany in February.
*Writing by Gokhan Ergocun from Istanbul