How Turkey Built One of Europe’s Most Powerful Armies
After the fall of the Soviet Union the Turkish Army downsized, shrinking from approximately 370,000 to 260,000 while shifting to an entirely mechanized force.
Here's What You Need To Remember: As part of Turkey’s contribution to the F-35 program, Turkish defense contractor Roketsan partnered with Lockheed Martin to develop the SOM (Stand Off Missile) cruise missile. SOM is Turkey’s first cruise missile, designed to attack targets both on land and at sea.
Straddling two continents, Turkey has one of the most powerful armed forces in Europe or Asia. Over four hundred thousand strong, Ankara’s armed forces are divided into the Army, Air Force, and Navy. A Special Forces Corps exists and is subordinate directly to the Turkish General Staff. The Turkish military formed a bulwark against the Warsaw Pact during the Cold War, facing Bulgarian, Romanian and Soviet forces that in wartime would drive south through Thrace and seize the Bosphorus Strait.