An exploratory research about defense industry and sustainability: ASELSAN case

Sustainability is expressed as the transfer of all kinds of resources owned today by generations. The basis of defense is the protection of owned resources. Although the relationship between the two concepts is very clear, it is known that no special effort is made in the field of sustainability within the scope of the defense industry sector. Although the sector is not customer-centered, it is forced to work in this field by investors. Another expectation of the investors is that the activities carried out in this field are reported in a transparent manner and published publicly. Although the concept of sustainability has not reached significant levels in Turkey, it is known that there are companies that carry out studies in this field. The aim of the research is to understand the place and importance of sustainability in the Turkish Defense Industry. In this research, an in-depth interview was conducted with the representative of ASELSAN, one of the Turkish Defense Industry companies that carries out important studies in the field of sustainability in Turkey. With this meeting, it was learned that although sustainability activities in the defense industry are managed with different objectives than the customer-oriented production sector, they are handled at the evaluation stage regardless of the sector.