Turkey to choose helicopter model
Güncelleme Tarihi:
by Ümit Enginsoy
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Haziran 29, 2009 00:00
WASHINGTON - Turkey's top decision-making body on defense procurement is expected this week to select a solution that would meet the nation's military and civilian needs for general-purpose helicopters over the next couple of decades.
The utility helicopter program will be the top agenda item at a planned Wednesday meeting of the Defense Industry Executive Committee, whose members include Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Chief of General Staff Gen. İlker Basbuğ, National Defense Minister Vecdi Gönül and Defense Industries Undersecretary Murad Bayar, procurement officials said.
Race between US, EU firms
The committee is due to select a winner in a competition between U.S. and European firms. The winner will manufacture the platforms together with Turkish defense firms. The contenders include the U.S. Sikorsky Aircraft, offering its S-70 Black Hawk International, and the Italian-British AgustaWestland, competing with the TUHP-149, a model designed for the Turkish deal. In recent weeks the two companies have proposed vast joint production opportunities favoring the indigenous Turkish industry to bolster the chances of their options. The initial batch in the utility helicopter program, worth more than $1 billion, is for the acquisition of 109 platforms, including 69 military choppers and 40 others for civilian purposes. The civilian platforms will include 20 firefighters and 20 police helicopters.
"This will eventually become a huge program, because it is designed to meet all our needs for utility helicopters in the future for both military and civilian purposes," a senior procurement official told the Hürriyet Da0ily News & Economic Review.
Presently, most utility helicopters in the Turkish military's inventory are U.S.-made, including more than 100 Black Hawks and more than 100 Vietnam War-era UH-1 Hueys. The Air Force has some 19 Cougar helicopters acquired in the 1990s from Eurocopter.
Turkey in the past had bought large batches of military utility helicopters when a need arose. Ankara now has endorsed a more structural approach for continual production involving large-scale Turkish industry contribution, said officials.
The latest utility helicopter program has been in place for more than three years. Turkey was believed to be close to a decision in the fall of 2007, but late that year the Defense Industry Executive Committee moved to open a fresh competition between Sikorsky Aircraft and AgustaWestland.
Race between US, EU firms
The committee is due to select a winner in a competition between U.S. and European firms. The winner will manufacture the platforms together with Turkish defense firms. The contenders include the U.S. Sikorsky Aircraft, offering its S-70 Black Hawk International, and the Italian-British AgustaWestland, competing with the TUHP-149, a model designed for the Turkish deal. In recent weeks the two companies have proposed vast joint production opportunities favoring the indigenous Turkish industry to bolster the chances of their options. The initial batch in the utility helicopter program, worth more than $1 billion, is for the acquisition of 109 platforms, including 69 military choppers and 40 others for civilian purposes. The civilian platforms will include 20 firefighters and 20 police helicopters.
"This will eventually become a huge program, because it is designed to meet all our needs for utility helicopters in the future for both military and civilian purposes," a senior procurement official told the Hürriyet Da0ily News & Economic Review.
Presently, most utility helicopters in the Turkish military's inventory are U.S.-made, including more than 100 Black Hawks and more than 100 Vietnam War-era UH-1 Hueys. The Air Force has some 19 Cougar helicopters acquired in the 1990s from Eurocopter.
Turkey in the past had bought large batches of military utility helicopters when a need arose. Ankara now has endorsed a more structural approach for continual production involving large-scale Turkish industry contribution, said officials.
The latest utility helicopter program has been in place for more than three years. Turkey was believed to be close to a decision in the fall of 2007, but late that year the Defense Industry Executive Committee moved to open a fresh competition between Sikorsky Aircraft and AgustaWestland.