Türkiye's ARCA Defense Moves Ammunition Production Into NATO’s Baltic Flank
By Bosphorus News Defense Desk
Turkish defence company ARCA Defense is moving ammunition production into NATO's Baltic flank with a new factory investment in Estonia, marking another step in Türkiye's expanding defence industrial footprint inside Europe.
ARCA Defense said it had won a tender for a strategic defence industry zone in Estonia and completed the official establishment contracts for a new plant under the ARCA Baltic brand. The company said installation work had started on a 1.4 million square meter site allocated for the project.
The facility is planned as a fully integrated production line for 155 mm M107 artillery ammunition, 60 mm, 81 mm and 120 mm mortar rounds, and 122 mm rockets with a 20 km range, according to ARCA's official statement.
The agreement was signed during the SAHA 2026 International Defense and Aerospace Exhibition in Istanbul. The ceremony was attended by Türkiye's National Defence Minister Yaşar Güler, Estonian Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur, ARCA Defense Chairman İsmail Terlemez, ARCA board member Özgür Rodoplu and SAHA Istanbul Chairman Haluk Bayraktar, according to Anadolu Agency.
Pevkur called the agreement a step that would deepen Türkiye-Estonia defence cooperation. "Today, we have the honor to sign the declaration that ARCA Defense will establish an ammunition factory in Estonia, which deepens our cooperation," he said.
The Estonian minister said the investment would create roughly 1,000 jobs and start production of long-range artillery ammunition "for Estonia, for Europe and for NATO countries."
The Baltic location gives the project wider significance. Estonia sits on NATO's northeastern flank, where European ammunition demand has grown sharply since Russia's war against Ukraine exposed shortages in artillery shell production, stockpiles and supply chains.
ARCA framed the investment as part of its European growth strategy. The company said it aims to respond directly and locally to allied needs, while strengthening its position in the international defence supply chain.
The move also reflects a broader shift in Türkiye's defence industry. Turkish companies are no longer only exporting platforms and ammunition from Türkiye. They are increasingly looking to build production, maintenance and supply relationships inside allied markets.
That matters for NATO because ammunition production has become one of the alliance's most urgent industrial problems. A Turkish company producing artillery shells and rockets inside Estonia would place Türkiye-linked manufacturing closer to the Baltic security environment and European procurement needs.
The project does not make Türkiye a Baltic defence supplier by itself. It does, however, show that Turkish defence firms are finding new space inside NATO's industrial map at a moment when Europe is trying to expand ammunition output and reduce delivery bottlenecks.
ARCA said its Estonian investment would reinforce its presence in Europe alongside its ongoing activities in Italy. The company described the move as part of a strategy to become a permanent part of the European defence industry ecosystem.
***Sources: ARCA Defense official statement, May 2026; Anadolu Agency, May 2026; News.Az, May 7, 2026; SAHA 2026 International Defense and Aerospace Exhibition reporting; Bosphorus News reporting.