The Rise of the “Central” Bloc: How Türkiye and Saudi Arabia are Building a New Third Channel for Global Defence Buyers

Over the span of 10 days in February 2026, Türkiye and Saudi Arabia signed a collection of high-level defence-industrial agreements protecting a fifth-generation fighter programme, a utility helicopter, and unmanned naval platforms. 

Taken collectively, these offers level towards one thing that may very well be bigger than a bilateral procurement cycle however, as a substitute, an early form of a ‘Central’ bloc of defence-industrial output forming between the normal Western and Japanese anchors of world arms manufacturing.

The Erdoğan–MBS Summit and Its Defence Dividend

President Erdoğan visited Riyadh on February 3, assembly Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Defence cooperation featured prominently within the bilateral outcomes. 

Talking to reporters on his return flight, Erdoğan described the agreements as “main” and signalled that joint KAAN funding may proceed “at any second” (Anadolu Company).

5 days later, World Protection Present (WDS) 2026 opened in Riyadh. By the point the present closed on February 12, over 60 defence offers value roughly SAR 33 billion (USD $8.8 billion) have been signed, together with 220 agreements (i.e., 93 government-to-government and 127 company-to-company) and 73 memoranda of understanding (MoUs). 

When it comes to Saudi-Turkish ties particularly, it’s value noting that in 2023 Ankara and Riyadh signed a ~$3 billion Bayraktar Akıncı UCAV deal, described by Baykar CEO Haluk Bayraktar as “the largest defence and aviation export contract within the historical past of the Turkish Republic.”

Industrial contacts deepened by means of 2024 and 2025, together with Saudi Arabian Navy Industries (SAMI) technology-transfer agreements with three Turkish defence companies for land techniques localization in 2025.