Defense Industry in Sungurlu: ARCA and the Rising Hub

Sungurlu, a district known for centuries for agriculture and trade at the crossroads of caravan routes and, most recently, the Ankara–Samsun highway, began gaining a new identity in the 2020s: a rising defence industry hub in the heart of Anatolia.

The Transformation of Sungurlu OSB

Preparations for the Sungurlu Organized Industrial Zone began in 1997, but the zone struggled to deliver the expected momentum for a long time. The turning point came with defence industry investments: today, by its own official description, Sungurlu OSB “makes its most important investments in the defence industry.” A significant cluster has formed in gunpowder, small arms ammunition and ordnance production, while automotive and paper industries are among the region’s other growing branches.

ARCA Defense: An Integrated Ordnance Power

At the centre of this rise stands ARCA Defense Industry (ARCA Savunma):

• Origins: Foundations laid in Ankara in 2020, today one of the Turkish defence industry’s most strategic production hubs (the company’s own description)
• Capital: 100% domestically owned
• Facilities: An integrated production campus on 960 decares (9.6 km²) in Sungurlu OSB, plus a 10,000 m² steel production centre in Ankara Başkent OSB
• Production model: Integrated manufacturing spanning explosive chemicals through rocket and ammunition factories — from primers, small-calibre cartridges and C4 to multi-calibre artillery ammunition
• Product family: 155 mm ERFB-BB (40 km range) and M107, 152 mm D-20, 122 mm D-30, 105 mm M1 artillery ammunition, and 120 mm mortar ammunition
• Priority: The needs of the Turkish Armed Forces come first; surplus capacity is exported to friendly and allied countries
• Recognition: Export champion title certified in 2025; “Defense Industry Firm Providing the Most Employment” award

The company states that it reinvests export earnings directly into technology and capacity — in its words, profit means “a new production line.”

Expansion: Demands for Thousands of Decares

Investment appetite is straining the zone. In September 2025, ARCA Defense requested 5,000 decares of additional land in Sungurlu OSB and Ahlatcı Holding 2,000 decares; the urgent expansion of the zone — or the creation of a second OSB — came onto the agenda. Allocation talks for the new zone herald Sungurlu’s industrial plan for the coming decades.

Ahlatcı’s Sungurlu Move: GoldForce Gunpowder

In the same period, Ahlatcı Holding also turned to Sungurlu — but with gunpowder, not gold. With the investment announced in August 2025, the holding is building a GoldForce gunpowder plant producing missile and rocket propellants in Sungurlu OSB:

• Investment size: USD 2.3 billion in total; first phase USD 1.2 billion
• Area: Built on 1,642,000 m² (about 1,642 decares); a request for 2,000 decares of additional land was filed in September 2025
• Employment: Approximately 2,000 people

This investment is a separate leg of Ahlatcı in Çorum: Ahlatcı Metal Rafineri, Türkiye’s largest gold refinery (2011), operates in the central Çorum OSB. The Sungurlu picture can be summed up clearly: ARCA’s munitions, Ahlatcı’s gunpowder.

The Region’s New Vision

In early 2026, local officials emphasized that a single firm in the district made over USD 3 billion in exports, and that a notable share of Türkiye’s 2025 defence industry exports (around USD 10.5 billion) originated from these lands. With ARCA’s munitions and Ahlatcı’s propellant investments, Sungurlu is advancing towards a position worthy of the description “a defence industry hub in the heart of Anatolia.”

What It Means for Çorum

Beyond Çorum’s export records, the defense industry investments mean skilled employment and a supplier ecosystem. Together with the central OSB and Teknokent, the Sungurlu model completes Çorum’s “one province, multiple poles” industrial structure: machinery and food in the centre, gold and defense in Sungurlu.

Sources

• ARCA Defense — About Us
• ARCA Defense — Official Website
• Sungurlu OSB — Official Website
• Ekonomim — Ahlatçı Holding’s USD 2.3 Billion Investment in Çorum
• Ahlatcı Metal Refinery — Official Website
• Sungurlu Gazette — ARCA Requests 5,000, Ahlatcı 2,000 Decares of Additional Land
• Çorum Haber — Sungurlu Growing with Defense Industry Investments