Rolls-Royce focusing on defense, nuclear businesses in Turkey

British engineering and manufacturing giant Rolls-Royce, which has operations in key five sectors, will direct its focus toward Turkey's defense and civil nuclear industries in the near term while prioritizing knowledge transfer, a top company representative has told the Hürriyet Daily News. 

Patrick Regis, Rolls-Royce's regional director for Turkey and Central Asia, said Turkey's indigenous fighter jet TF-X project was the number-one project for the company at present but that small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs) would follow in the future.

The company has a unique position in Turkey, which "has a developing demand for every one of the five sectors in which Rolls-Royce is involved," Regis said.

The company operates in civil aerospace, defense aerospace, marine, nuclear and power systems.

"What is key for Turkey is that every one of these businesses is very engaged and this is very unusual for a country in which we are operating. India and China have a huge scale. Turkey does not have this scale or volume, but it has a very specific demand. That is exactly what we can offer from nuclear to defense or others. That is unique for a company being in a country which has a developing demand for every one of the sectors in which it is involved," he said in Istanbul on the sidelines of a defense fair that ended on May 13. 
Three sectors are of great importance for the company right now, he noted. 

"Defense is big for us right now. Then we see high potential in the nuclear business," said Regis, adding that this would followed by power systems.

Under the MTU brand of Rolls-Royce Power Systems, the company develops and produces high-speed engines and propulsion systems for ships and heavy land, rail and defense...