SYS Group underlines pioneering role in defense manufacturing

By Seda Sevencan

ISTANBUL (AA) – The top executive at the multinational SYS Group highlighted the company's growing impact on the global defense industry, underscoring its expansive manufacturing capabilities and strategic international presence.

The SYS Group, which includes arms manufacturer CANiK, Mechanic, Unirobotics, AEI Systems, and General Academy, has facilities in Türkiye, the UK, and US, furthering its global reach.

"We have facilities in Turkey and we have two locations in Turkey, one of them is Istanbul where we build our remote control weapon stations, and our arms manufacturing is in north-central Türkiye in Samsun," Utku Aral said at the Eurosatory 2024 defense fair in Paris.

The SYS Group's international presence includes a manufacturing site in Ascot, England, west of London, focusing on medium-caliber products, and a facility in West Palm Beach, Florida, dedicated to producing the entire product portfolio for the US Army.

"With a capacity to manufacture 550,000 small arms annually, we’re in the top five in our field," Aral said.

Additionally, the group can manufacture 250 cannons, 150 remote control weapon stations, and around 6,000 machine guns each year, he said, adding: "So this is one of the largest capacities in the world."

Since AEI Systems joined the SYS Group in 2022, the company has been producing 20mm, 25mm, and 30mm calibers, he noted.

"30x113 is one of the most critical products we have because there are only three manufacturers in the world – one of them is the US, the other one is France, and the third one is us. So it's a very unique product with low recoil and you can shoot proximity rounds against drones, high explosive ammunition for naval systems or land platforms. So that's a very critical product," he stressed..

Furthermore, the SYS Group is one of the few companies that has also manufactures remote control weapon stations for the arms that they are manufacturing, he said.

"So with all these three locations, of course we’re going to increase our product portfolio, we’re going to increase the calibers, we’re going to manufacture, hopefully design and manufacture bigger 30mm, maybe in the future 25mm. So yes, we will grow this range of programs," Aral said.