Mechanical and Chemical Industry Corporation. The Mechanical and Chemical Industry Corporation ( or MKE for short), established in 1950, is a reorganization of government-controlled group of factories in Turkey that supplied the Turkish Armed Forces with military products.

History
Its roots lie in the "Tophane-i Amire" ("Royal Arsenal") built in the latter part of the 15th Century to supply the Ottoman Empire's artillery corps with cannon, powder, and shot. This was reorganized in 1832 as the "Tophane Müşavirliği" ("Arsenal of Ordnance and Artillery Marshalship") and was later formed in a department of "Harbiye Nezareti" (Ministry of War) in 1908. After World War I and the following Turkish War of Independence, it was reorganized as the "General Directorate of Military Factories" in 1923. Today, the MKE is made up of 12 facilities that employ 7,430 personnel. The first produced rifle was Mauser Model M1938 (along with 'Enfauser' Lee–Enfield/Mauser hybrids) and the first pistol was Walther PP, both known as 'Kırıkkale'.

Legal status
The company's legal status has changed from state-owned enterprise to a corporation, with the Law Nr. 7330 dated July 3, 2021.

Products

The corporation mainly produces equipment for the Turkish Armed Forces, such as the ammunition for small arms and heavy weapons, artillery systems, aerial bombs, mines, explosives, and rockets. MKEK also manufactures civil-purpose products such as steel, brass, and electrical parts and equipment. Its large range of defense industry products are not only demanded in Turkey, but are exported to more than 40 countries worldwide.

In 2011, the company has sold military products to 29 countries worldwide. The first smoothbore gun for Altay main battle tank was introduced in 2011.

Production groups:
Ammunition Group
Rocket Group
Weapons Group
Explosives, Propellants, and Pyrotechnic Products Group
Company and factories: there are 11 factories and 1 company affiliated with MKE located in three major manufacturing hubs:
Kırıkkale
Ammunition Factory
Brass Factory
Heavy Weapons Factory And Steel Foundry
Explosives Factory
Small-Arms Weapons Factory (Kırıkkale Arsenal Co.)
Ankara
Explosive & Propellant Factory
Machinery and Gas-Mask Factory MAKSAM
Pyrotechnics Factory
Scrap Recycling Plant
Small-Arms Ammunition Factory
Çankırı
Medium-Caliber Weapons Factory
İzmit
Scrap Recycling Plant

MKE Maksam Machine and Mask Factory 
MKE Maksam ( or MAKSAM for short) was founded in 1920. The company's line of business includes the manufacturing of surgical appliances and supplies also CBRN masks and products, various masks are produced for the army and civilians. During COVID-19 pandemic Maksam produced millions of Surgical Mask, FFP3 Type Mask, Protective Coverall, Goggles Type A-B, Face Protection Visor Type C, Protective Gloves, Panoramic Mask Set, P13 Plastic Strainer and MKE Surgical Mask Production Machines.

SAHRA Mechanical Respirator 
Apart from masks and protective equipment, SAHRA Mechanical Respirator was produced by making use of local and national facilities in order to provide basic respiratory support to COVID-19 patients. SAHRA is ready for mass production by the end of May 2020 and has a weekly production capacity of 500 pieces.

Aircraft
 MKEK-1 Gözcü (Turkish - "Observer")
 MKEK-2 6 planes were produced
 MKEK-3
 MKEK-4 Uğur (Turkish: "Luck") 57 planes were produced, three of which were donated to the Royal Jordanian Air Force.
 MKEK-5 Twin-engine aircraft developed bt in Turkey in 1945 as an air ambulance.
 MKEK-6
 MKEK-7
 THK-16

Vehicles 

 T-155 Fırtına 155 mm 52 caliber tracked self-propelled howitzer
 T-155 Yavuz 155 mm 52 caliber wheeled self-propelled howitzer

Engineering and Ammunition Resupply Vehicles 
 MKEK POYRAZ - Ammunition resupply vehicle
 MKE TAMGEÇ Mine-clearing line charge system.
 MKE TAMKAR Mine-clearing line charge system

Weapons

Small arms 
Source:
 CS tear gas grenade
 G3-A3/A4/A7 (T41/T43)(licensed production)
 HK33-A2/A3 (T-50) (licensed production)
 JMK Bora 12/JNG-90 bolt action sniper rifle
 KAAN-717 carbine
 KNT-76 designated marksman rifle
 MAM-15 anti-materiel sniper rifle
 KN-12 sniper rifle
 MGL (licensed production)
 MG3 (licensed production)
 Mk 2 anti-personnel hand grenade (licensed production)
 Mk 3 concussion grenade (licensed production)
 Mk 19 automatic grenade launcher (licensed production)
 MMT modern machine gun
 MOD 56 riot control hand grenade
 MOT-919 submachine gun
 MPT-76/76MH/55/55K
 TLS-571 carbine
 MP5-A2/A3/K/MTS (AP5/T94) (licensed production)
 PMT-76/PMT-76-57A machine gun
 T40-R/R5 under-barrel grenade launcher (also for IWI Tavor  X95s)
 T-41/43/50/94 are semi auto for us market
 MT12QCB

Artillery/Rockets/Missiles 
Source:
 Boran  lightweight towed howitzer (based on L118)
 Eryx anti-tank guided missile (licensed production)
 HY1-12 120 mm mortar
 MKE FFAR 70 mm air to ground and surface to surface unguided rocket (licensed production)
 MK 82 general-purpose bomb (licensed production)
 MK 84 general-purpose bomb (licensed production)
 MKE 120 mm 55 caliber smoothbore gun (based on CN08)
 MO-120 RT-61 120 mm heavy mortar (licensed production)
 NT1 81 mm mortar
 Oerlikon 20 mm anti-aircraft gun for double barrel GAI 001 system (licensed production)
 Oerlikon 35 mm double barrel anti-aircraft gun for towed MKE GDF-003B and other systems (licensed production)
 Panter 155 mm 52 caliber towed howitzer
 Penetrator bomb -  870 Kg 2.1 m thick used on Turkish Air Force F-4 Terminator 2020s and F-16 Falcons
 UT1 81 mm mortar
 60 mm commando mortar
 66 mm light anti-tank system
 105 mm M68 Tank Gun Weapon System
 107 mm MBRL

Protective gear 
 MAKSAM Panaromic Gas Mask
 NEFES CBRN Gas Mask
 SR6 and SR6M NBC Respirator (licensed production)
 SR10 and SR10 ST Gas Masks

Museums of the MKE 
 MKE Industry and Technology Museum (Ankara)
 Kırıkkale MKE Weapons Industry Museum (Kırıkkale)

Sports clubs associated with the MKE 
Source:
 MKE Ankaragücü
 MKE Kırıkkalespor
 MKE Çankırıspor
 MKE Gazi Fişek Spor
 MKE Maske Spor

References

External links
Official website

Manufacturing companies established in 1950
Defence companies of Turkey
Manufacturing companies based in Ankara
Government-owned companies of Turkey
Turkish companies established in 1950
Engineering companies of Turkey
Aircraft manufacturers of Turkey
Ministry of National Defense (Turkey)
Turkish brands
Science and technology in Turkey