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MILITARY INNOVATION AND LIMITED STRATEGIC AUTONOMY IN MIDDLE POWERS: AN ANALYSIS OF TÜRKİYE’S UAV/UCAV CAPACITY

Cilt: 17 4 Kasım 2026
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MILITARY INNOVATION AND LIMITED STRATEGIC AUTONOMY IN MIDDLE POWERS: AN ANALYSIS OF TÜRKİYE’S UAV/UCAV CAPACITY

Öz

This article examines the security-related, institutional, and technological conditions under which Türkiye’s UAV/UCAV capacity developed and assesses its implications for security policy and international positioning. Designed as a qualitative explanatory case study, the research analyzes a purposively selected corpus of 43 academic, institutional, and open-source documents through five themes: security pressure, institutional coordination, domestic production, operational learning, and international visibility. The Turkish model is positioned through a criteria-based comparison with the United States, Israel, and Iran without ranking national capabilities. The findings show that the transformation cannot be explained solely by technical modernization. Security pressure, public-private coordination, battlefield learning, and gradual dependency reduction jointly shaped the capacity. The article therefore conceptualizes Türkiye’s experience as a middle-power military innovation pathway that produces limited but strategically consequential autonomy in selected domains.

Anahtar Kelimeler

UAV/UCAV, Military innovation, Strategic autonomy, Defense industry, Türkiye

Kaynakça

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  3. Arreguín-Toft, I. (2001). How the weak win wars: A theory of asymmetric conflict. International Security, 26(1), 93–128. https://doi.org/10.1162/016228801753212868
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  6. Bakır, G. (2019). İnsansız hava araçlarının savunma sanayi harcamasındaki yeri ve önemi. Avrasya Sosyal ve Ekonomi Araştırmaları Dergisi, 6(2), 127–134.
  7. Baykar. (t.y.). Bayraktar TB2. https://baykartech.com/en/uav/bayraktar-tb2/ (Erişim tarihi: 5 Haziran 2026).
  8. Boot, M. (2006). War made new: Technology, warfare, and the course of history, 1500 to today. Gotham Books.
  9. Boulanin, V., & Verbruggen, M. (2017). Mapping the development of autonomy in weapon systems. Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
  10. Byman, D. (2013). Why drones work: The case for Washington’s weapon of choice. Foreign Affairs, 92(4), 32–43.

Kaynak Göster

APA
Özbay, S., & Durmuş, İ. (2026). MILITARY INNOVATION AND LIMITED STRATEGIC AUTONOMY IN MIDDLE POWERS: AN ANALYSIS OF TÜRKİYE’S UAV/UCAV CAPACITY. Journal of Academic Approaches, 17, 1-18. https://doi.org/10.54688/ayd.1987834
AMA
1.Özbay S, Durmuş İ. MILITARY INNOVATION AND LIMITED STRATEGIC AUTONOMY IN MIDDLE POWERS: AN ANALYSIS OF TÜRKİYE’S UAV/UCAV CAPACITY. Journal of Academic Approaches. 2026;17:1-18. doi:10.54688/ayd.1987834
Chicago
Özbay, Sadi, ve İrfan Durmuş. 2026. “MILITARY INNOVATION AND LIMITED STRATEGIC AUTONOMY IN MIDDLE POWERS: AN ANALYSIS OF TÜRKİYE’S UAV/UCAV CAPACITY”. Journal of Academic Approaches 17 (Kasım): 1-18. https://doi.org/10.54688/ayd.1987834.
EndNote
Özbay S, Durmuş İ (04 Kasım 2026) MILITARY INNOVATION AND LIMITED STRATEGIC AUTONOMY IN MIDDLE POWERS: AN ANALYSIS OF TÜRKİYE’S UAV/UCAV CAPACITY. Journal of Academic Approaches 17 1–18.
IEEE
[1]S. Özbay ve İ. Durmuş, “MILITARY INNOVATION AND LIMITED STRATEGIC AUTONOMY IN MIDDLE POWERS: AN ANALYSIS OF TÜRKİYE’S UAV/UCAV CAPACITY”, Journal of Academic Approaches, c. 17, ss. 1–18, Kas. 2026, doi: 10.54688/ayd.1987834.
ISNAD
Özbay, Sadi - Durmuş, İrfan. “MILITARY INNOVATION AND LIMITED STRATEGIC AUTONOMY IN MIDDLE POWERS: AN ANALYSIS OF TÜRKİYE’S UAV/UCAV CAPACITY”. Journal of Academic Approaches 17 (04 Kasım 2026): 1-18. https://doi.org/10.54688/ayd.1987834.
JAMA
1.Özbay S, Durmuş İ. MILITARY INNOVATION AND LIMITED STRATEGIC AUTONOMY IN MIDDLE POWERS: AN ANALYSIS OF TÜRKİYE’S UAV/UCAV CAPACITY. Journal of Academic Approaches. 2026;17:1–18.
MLA
Özbay, Sadi, ve İrfan Durmuş. “MILITARY INNOVATION AND LIMITED STRATEGIC AUTONOMY IN MIDDLE POWERS: AN ANALYSIS OF TÜRKİYE’S UAV/UCAV CAPACITY”. Journal of Academic Approaches, c. 17, Kasım 2026, ss. 1-18, doi:10.54688/ayd.1987834.
Vancouver
1.Sadi Özbay, İrfan Durmuş. MILITARY INNOVATION AND LIMITED STRATEGIC AUTONOMY IN MIDDLE POWERS: AN ANALYSIS OF TÜRKİYE’S UAV/UCAV CAPACITY. Journal of Academic Approaches. 04 Kasım 2026;17:1-18. doi:10.54688/ayd.1987834