Turkish Small Arms Maker CANiK to Open U.S. Factory to Bid for American Tenders

Turkey’s light weapons manufacturer CANiK will open a new weapons factory in Florida in early 2023, which will allow it to bid for major U.S. tenders.

Utku Aral, SYS’ general manager was quoted as saying by Turkish state media that construction of the weapons factory will be completed in February 2023, while the machinery will be settled in March, and production is set to start in the second quarter.

Thanks to the new U.S.-based factory, Aral said CANiK will have a bid in major U.S. tenders, such as U.S. Customs and Border Security, which they "won in performance and price scoring in 2018 but lost due to not having U.S. production."

Aral added that he plans to increase the total monthly production capacity to 8,000 units in the first stage and then to 15,000 per month gradually in 2023. "When the three-shift, 24-hour working tempo is reached, we will have a monthly capacity of 25,000 units," he said.

All raw materials used for the weapons will be imported from Turkey, while only micro-compact products will be produced within the factory, as they can’t be imported to the U.S., the company official said.