Aselsan, Türkiye's top defense company, seeks to branch out into the civilian sector with defibrillators. The Turkish defense giant's automatic external defibrillator (AED) device will help save the lives of South African patients who suffer from sudden cardiac arrest, the head of the company said on Monday.

Aselsan, which started developing the device in 2018 with Metsis, a company that makes medical devices, developed the AED last year under the Aselsan Heartline brand.

Having previously exported the device to France and Italy, Aselsan has since received orders from numerous other countries.

Speaking during the Africa Aerospace and Defence (AAD) fair in the capital Pretoria, Aselsan head Haluk Görgün told Anadolu Agency (AA) that the firm would ink sales deals with local partners in Africa after the event. "In particular, we will sell our defibrillator devices," he added, noting that Aselsan was showcasing its products for both the military and civilian fields during the event. Underlining that the firm has had an office in South Africa since 2011 for design and production activities, Görgün said the facility employed 47 expert staff to work on its electro-optical, electro-mechanic and laser projects.

"With our presence here, I can already say that we can be more active and export more in the future with the negotiations and agreements we've made," he said. "We have many opportunities in South Africa, where we can create solutions with our products not only in the field of defense but also in the civilian sector."