BAGHDAD, May 16 (UPI)

Iraq has taken delivery of the first 26 of 420 BTR-4 armored personnel carriers from Ukraine, part of a $2.5 billion contract that includes six Antonov tactical transport aircraft and makes the former Soviet republic one of Iraq's main arms suppliers.

Most of the weapons systems and equipment for Iraq's new-age armed forces will come from the United States, which has trained and funded the forces in recent years.

In late 2010, the U.S. Department of Defense proposed selling Baghdad arms worth at least $4.2 billion, including 18 Lockheed Martin F-16 strike aircraft, Raytheon AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles, laser-guided bombs and reconnaissance equipment.

But the Iraqi Defense Ministry has cast its procurement net much wider to include arms from Russia, Serbia, France and Ukraine.

The Ukrainians inherited Russian arms factories when the Soviet Union broke up two decades ago, including BTR manufacturing plants. Redesigned BTR variants have proved to be popular export items.

The BTR-4, which has amphibious capabilities, is a variant of the Russian BTR-80 wheeled APC built in Ukraine during the Cold War. It carries a three-man crew and eight soldiers.

The 4-ton 8X8 vehicle, reputedly immune to rocket-propelled grenades, carries a 30mm autocannon, a 7.62mm machine gun and a 30mm grenade launcher, or two anti-tank missiles.

Delivery of the APCs, built by the Khariv Morozov Design Bureau of Khariv, is expected to be completed by the end of 2012. The bureau produced the war-winning T-34 main battle tank for the Soviet army during World War II.

The Iraqi deal provides Ukraine's arm industry with a significant boost in exports.

During the Saddam Hussein dictatorship, toppled by the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003, the Soviet Union, and later Russia, was the leading supplier of weapons for Iraq.

U.S. military analyst D.J. Elliott, a retired U.S. Navy intelligence officer who compiles the Iraqi Security Forces Order of Battle Web site, says the BTR-4s, which accommodate a wide range of weapons fits, may be assigned to Iraqi Special Operations Forces strike units.

He noted a recent shift toward training these forces on older Soviet-designed BTR-80s, and that the number of BTR-4s ordered is about enough to equip the ISOF strike teams as they are currently constituted.

The army's main mechanized infantry units are to be equipped with second-hand U.S. Army APCs, including 1,000 refurbished M-113 tracked vehicles.

The 12-ton M-113 was for decades the backbone of the U.S. infantry after it was fielded in 1960 and made its mark during the Vietnam War. It was built by United Defense, which was taken over by BAE in 2005.

More than 80,000 M-11s were built and more than one-third of them remain in service with 50 nations. The United States has retired thousands of them and refurbishes them for resale.

The first shipment of BTR-4s by UkrSpetsExport, Ukraine's state arms exporter, included four command APCs and two medical variants. The next shipment of 62 vehicles is scheduled for September.

Ukraine also hopes to sell Iraq an undetermined number of advanced T-84 Oplot main battle tanks but as far as is known to deal has been finalized.

Meantime, the Interfax-Ukraine news agency reported in February that Antonov State Enterprises in Kiev is ready to deliver the first two AN-32 light transport aircraft.

But it isn't clear whether the twin-engine turboprop aircraft, built by the Aviant State Aircraft Plant at Kiev have been shipped to Iraq. The other four transports are expected in Iraq by the end of the year.

There are unconfirmed reports that Baghdad could eventually buy another four AN-32s to bolster the transport command of the fledgling Iraqi air force which currently has U.S.-built King Air 350 light transports and several Lockheed Martin C-130EJ Hercules heavy tactical transports.

The Iraqis have used Antonovs for decades.

A US partnership between Raytheon and Lockheed Martin is competing for Turkey's long-range missile program with its Patriot-related systems. Hürriyet photo.

May 16, 2011 ÜMİT ENGİNSOY Hürriyet Daily News

ANKARA - Turkey's bid to acquire long-range missile and air defense is triggering hot debates as the NATO member country includes Chinese and Russian options on the list of probable buyers. Western experts insist the Russian and the Chinese systems are not compatible with NATO systems

A US partnership between Raytheon and Lockheed Martin is competing for Turkey's long-range missile program with its Patriot-related systems. Hürriyet photo.

Chinese and Russian companies eyeing Turkey’s multibillion-dollar program to acquire long-range missile and air defense will not be excluded from the contest despite Western criticism, Turkey’s procurement chief has said.

Western critics have claimed that the selection of either the Chinese or the Russian firm could compromise NATO’s intelligence and security procedures.

“The two systems [Russian and Chinese ones] will stay among our options; there’s no need to exclude them,” Murad Bayar, the head of the Undersecretariat for Defense Industries, Turkey’s procurement agency, told the Hürriyet Daily News.

Turkey’s choice on this large program is expected to be announced late this year or early next year. Bayar said Turkey would probably not issue a short list before its final decision is made.

One of the competing companies in the ongoing contest for Turkey’s national contract is the U.S. partnership between Raytheon and Lockheed Martin, with their Patriot Advanced Capability-3, or PAC-3, systems. Russia’s Rosoboronexport is marketing the S300 and S400 while China Precision Machinery Export-Import Corp., or CPMIEC, is offering its HQ-9. The Italian-French Eurosam, maker of the SAMP/T Aster 30, is also trying to market its product.

Some Western experts say that since the Russian and the Chinese systems are not compatible with NATO systems, their victory could provide them with access to classified NATO information, and as a result may endanger the alliance’s procedures.

“If, say, the Chinese win the competition, their systems will be in interaction, directly or indirectly, with NATO’s intelligence systems, and this may lead to the leak of critical NATO information to the Chinese, albeit inadvertently. So this is dangerous,” one Western expert said.

“There are technical ways to prevent the Chinese and the Russians from getting access to NATO information, but this would drastically raise the price,” the expert said. “One explanation is that Turkey itself doesn’t plan to select the Chinese or Russian alternatives, but is still retaining them among the options to put pressure on the Americans and the Europeans to curb their prices.”

Turkish and NATO systems

Turkey’s long-range air and missile defense systems program, T-Loramids, has been designed to counter both enemy aircraft and missiles.

Separately, under a NATO plan approved during a summit meeting in Lisbon in November, the Western alliance will create a collective defense system against potential incoming ballistic missiles from rogue countries. Ankara agreed to the decision only after NATO accepted a Turkish request that Iran or other countries would not be specifically mentioned as potential sources of threat.

NATO now seeks to deploy special X-band radars in Turkish territory for early detection of missiles launched from the region.

Ideally, in the event of such a launch, U.S.-made SM-3 interceptors – based on U.S. Aegis destroyers to be deployed in the eastern Mediterranean and possibly in Romania – would then be fired to hit the incoming missile mid-flight.

Turkey’s national air defense system will be independent and separate from the NATO missile shield. But since both systems are, by nature, anti-ballistic missile schemes and both are supposed to protect Turkish soil, they will have to be integrated in some way.

The United States and some of its Western partners are opposed to the integration of any Russian or Chinese system into the NATO missile shield. “American officials already have said that non-NATO elements would cause serious interoperability problems,” said one Turkish diplomat.

The governments of the competing companies are also involved in a diplomatic campaign to woo Turkey.

According to a release of highly classified U.S. diplomatic correspondences by the whistleblower website WikiLeaks, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has lobbied Turkish counterparts to select the U.S.-built PAC-3.

In a Feb. 16, 2010, cable sent to Washington by then-U.S. Ambassador to Ankara James Jeffrey, Gates was quoted as saying “nothing can compete with the PAC-3 when it comes to capabilities.”

16/05/11 By Arie Egozi Flight International

Elbit Systems has won a contract to develop a cargo unmanned air system for the Israeli defence forces. Dubbed "Flying Elephant", the project is aimed at performing resupply missions to the front line.

Sources said on 15 May that the Elbit design is based on a wheeled cargo pallet that can be loaded with 1t of ammunition, food or water. The pallet is attached to a special parafoil with servo systems that will ensure its aerodynamic shape.

The "Flying Elephant" will be able to fly for a "number of kilometres" and will have a GPS system for navigation to the desired supply point.

The Israeli defence ministry is paying for the development, with test flights due to be conducted next year.

The problem of resupplying Israeli combat units became acute during the second war in Lebanon, in 2006.

Elbit's proposal was selected because of its simplicity and the projected time that will be needed to deploy the system, sources said.

May 16, 2011 Paris, France(SPX)

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed between Cassidian on behalf of EADS Deutschland GmbH and Turkish Aerospace Industries, Inc. (TAI) to establish a close collaboration in the Talarion programme. The MoU was signed during an official ceremony at the 10th International Defence Industry Fair (IDEF) held in Istanbul.

Signed in the presence of Murad Bayar, The Honourable Undersecretary for Defence Industries and Thomas Kossendey, Germany's Deputy Defence Minister, this new agreement further reinforces the presence of Turkey in Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) multinational collaborative programmes.

Talarion is the European programme for a next-generation Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) advanced Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) to fulfil the requirements initially placed by France, Germany and Spain for future unmanned long endurance surveillance and reconnaissance missions. The novel aspect of this approach is a modular design and the integration of the UAV in a network-enabled operations scenario.

Turkey has always advocated to participate in this major European programme with the Undersecretariat for Defence Industries (SSM) agreeing significant investment and integration in the Talarion prototype programme team by major companies of the Turkish industry led by TAI (Turkish Aerospace Industries, Inc.).

The prototype will be the first development standard following an interactive design approach. First flight of the prototype is scheduled for 2014. To achieve this goal, Cassidian has created a dedicated co-located plateau phase with engineers from France, Spain, Turkey and Germany including main suppliers. Today around 160 engineers are working in the Talarion plateau.

Being the first Unmanned Aerial System that will operate within civil airspace, Talarion can be used for a variety of security missions amongst others such as anti-piracy, drug control, border protection and ecological and natural crisis management.

"Cassidian is very pleased and honored to welcome TAI as part of the Talarion Team", said Bernhard Gerwert, Chief Executive Officer of Cassidian Air Systems, adding : "This next-generation MALE UAS is of outmost importance since it will fulfill government security missions and commercial activities which are not accessible to current solutions and their derivatives. With this industrial commitment we strongly believe that the potential customers will decide soon to support this unique product."

"We look forward to the progress of this programme which offers the highest performance of its class, incorporating the most modern modular sensor suite and data links" explained Muharrem Dortkasli, Chief Executive Officer and President, Turkish Aerospace Industries, Inc. adding : "TAI is very proud to integrate such a challenging breakthrough, paving the way to a new generation of operational capabilities ."

ISTANBUL, Turkey, May 13(UPI)

The sale to Turkey by Saudi Arabia of six U.S.-made Lockheed Martin C-130E military cargo planes has reportedly been approved by the U.S. government.

Hurriyet Daily News, quoting senior Turkish and U.S. officials, said the deal for the older model aircraft was struck last summer and U.S. approval came in April.

One procurement official told Hurriyet Daily News that the planes were being purchased at a very reasonable price but declined to specify a figure. An industry source suggested the unit price was less than $10 million.

"We weren't expecting any major problems on this (U.S. approval) and everything worked out well," the Turkish procurement official was quoted as saying. "We're happy about this."

The aircraft are expected to arrive in Turkey this year.

The Turkish air force already is flying the older C-130B and C-130E models of the C-130 family, acquired from the United States decades ago.

As a member of the pan-European Airbus A400 consortium, Turkey has been planning to buy 10 A400M cargo planes but the program has been facing major delays.

May 13, 2011 By Andy Nativi  - aerospace daily and defense report

ISTANBUL — Turkey is exploring whether it would be feasible to launch an indigenous fighter program, even though the government recognizes that the country still might have to be satisfied with another off-the-shelf procurement.

The fact that such an endeavor is being seriously contemplated became clear when the defense ministry’s powerful procurement and industrial agency, SSM, awarded a two-year feasibility study to Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) to explore the “art of the possible.” TAI may reach out to established aircraft makers for help, with Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Saab having already offered their support.

Embraer also is talking to TAI, which could be an interesting prospect given Brazil’s own interest in launching an indigenous development this decade.

The highly ambitious schedule currently envisioned would see the Turkish fighter enter service in 2023. Industry officials suggest the requirement is for a medium- to heavy-class aircraft.

Several fallback options exist in case an independent path is deemed beyond reach. One is a partnering arrangement in which another company would provide technology critical to managing a co-development program, likely derived from an existing design. Several models would already exist from which to work. One is what Japan undertook with its F-2 fighter, in which Lockheed Martin was a major partner; the other is the arrangement Lockheed Martin struck with Korea Aerospace Industries for development of the South Korean T-50/F50 .

Turkey and South Korea at one point discussed cooperation around Seoul’s KFX project, but Seoul did not want to relinquish more than 20-30% of the program.

Another option would be a straight off-the-shelf procurement. Industry officials say a decision on which approach will be followed should be announced before the end of 2013.

These deliberations come just as Turkey is implementing an extensive fighter modernization strategy. The country is buying 30 Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 50+ fighters; the first one is slated to be delivered this month and the rest will follow before 2013. They are being fielded to offset losses of more than 20 F-16s and as a bridge until the first of 116 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters are fielded. Turkey had hoped for a 2014 delivery, although that time frame is now considered unlikely given the delays in the core program.

The Turkish air force still operates a fleet of F-4 Phantom fighter/bombers. Around 50 of them were upgraded to the Phantom 2020 standard through a program carried out with Israeli involvement. But there are still “original” F-4s and RF-4s in service. These will be the first to go, while, in theory, the Phantom 2020s could last until a new fighter is procured.

Turkey also is reviewing its overall strategic outlook. The latest defense policy assessment no longer lists Greece, Syria and Iran as direct threats, which could herald a move to reduce the total fighter inventory and allow the F-4s to be retired without an immediate replacement.

Even if the F-4 follow-on program is realized, it would be for no more than 50 aircraft, with Ankara likely to buy an established system.

May 13, 2011 Tony Skinner, SHEPARD GROUP

Among the various indigenously-designed UAVs on display at the IDEF exhibition in Istanbul from 10 to 13 May was the Bayraktar tactical UAV, which company officials are confident is nearing serial production.

The exhibition marked the public unveiling of the tactical UAV, which was selected by the Turkish Land Forces Command in 2010 following successful flight demonstrations the previous year.

Baykar Machinery general manager Haluk Bayraktar told Shephard that the prototype phase was now completed and contract details were being finalised for an 18 aircraft order.

He said once the contract was signed, which was expected in coming months, first deliveries of the production aircraft would occur in 20 months.

The Bayraktar tactical UAV has been developed under a joint venture between Baykar and the Kale Group.  The completely self-funded project gathered engineers from a variety of disciplines in order to develop the UAV’s critical technologies.

Bayraktar said that the aircraft is capable of autonomous taxi, take-off and landing through onboard sensor fusion algorithms. In the event communications with the UAV are broken, the aircraft will automatically return home and land – although Bayraktar noted that the system employed a triple digital downlink.

While the company used a self-developed EO-IR payload for the flight tests and demonstration, the system that would be integrated with the in-service UAV was still being determined.

The Bayraktar, which is 5.5m long and has a wingspan of 9m, has a stated endurance of 10 hours, an operational altitude of 18,000 feet, a maximum take-off weight of 450kg, and a cruise speed of 80 knots.

Also on display at the IDEF exhibition were the Bayraktar mini-UAV and Malazgirt mini unmanned helicopter system as well as associated portable ground control stations.

The Malazgirt, which features a gas engine, has a rotor span of 1.8m, an endurance of 80 minutes and an operational range of 15km. It has been designed to carry an IR/day camera payload at 2000 feet and also employs autonomous take-off and landing, and waypoint navigation as well as autopilot assisted joystick control mode.

12 May 2011 By KATE BRANNEN DefenseNews

Due to the recent political upheaval in the region, the U.S. State Department and the Department of Defense are reviewing its defense trade relationships with countries in the Middle East and even putting some of them on hold.

The United States has put "on pause" some of its planned transactions with countries in the region, James Miller, principal deputy undersecretary of defense for policy, told the House Committee on Foreign Affairs during a May 12 hearing.

Longer term, the administration is looking at the implications for defense trade on a country-by-country basis, as well as assessing the region as a whole, he said.

"Historic change of this magnitude will inevitably prompt us, as well as our colleagues throughout government, to reassess current policy approaches to ensure they still fit with the changing landscape," Andrew Shapiro, the assistant secretary at the State Department's Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, said during a May 3 speech.

"While the impact on our defense relations and the defense trade is uncertain, changes in the region may lead to changes in policy and therefore changes in how we do business," he said.

The majority of U.S. military aid to the region goes to Israel. The United States also provides military financing to Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, Bahrain and Yemen.

In Bahrain, where the United States maintains a naval headquarters, the Shiite majority continues to demonstrate against the distribution of power and its lack of inclusion in the government. Early on in the protests, which erupted in February, the government used force against the demonstrators. In March, it invited foreign forces into the country to help manage the unrest.

The United States has financed the Bahrain Defense Force and the country is eligible to receive "excess defense articles," which in the past have included an Oliver Hazard Perry-class guided missile frigate, according to the Congressional Research Service. Recent foreign military financing has gone toward improving the country's air defenses, upgrading the avionics of its F-16 fleet and improving its counter-terrorism capabilities.

The government in Yemen is also using force to crack down on civilian protesters.

According to a Congressional Research Service report, the Obama administration requested $106 million in U.S. economic and military assistance for Yemen in 2011. For 2012, it has requested $116 million in State Department and USAID-administered economic and military aid.

Members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee expressed concern that arms sales to certain countries may no longer advance U.S. foreign policy interests.

Committee Chair Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., wanted assurance that all sales to the region comply with the Conventional Arms Transfer Policy.

Each sale goes through review before any deal is made, responded Ellen Tauscher, undersecretary for arms control and international security at the State Department.

During his speech to the Defense Trade Advisory Group at the State Department, Shapiro emphasized that arms transfers are used as tools to advance U.S. foreign policy goals.

"And therefore, when U.S. foreign policy interests, goals and objectives shift, evolve and transform over time, so will our arms transfer policy," he said.

Along these lines, Shapiro's office is re-examining the Conventional Arms Transfer policy.

"This policy has suited the United States well since it was enacted just after the end of the Cold War, but it is time to dust off its pages and make sure that it reflects the reality of today," he said. "We don't know yet what specific changes, if any, are needed. But in light of sweeping transformation it is essential that we, as well as our colleagues in other government agencies, assess current processes and procedures toward the region."

Israel’s thermal stealth innovator Eltics has demonstrated the ability of a large, multi-element Black Fox thermal, adaptive multi-spectral camouflage suite to 'eliminate' a Land Rover Defender vehicle from the view of thermal sights. Photos: Eltics

May 12, 2011 By Tamir Eshel DEFENSE UPDATE

Israel’s thermal stealth innovator Eltics unveiled today a short video depicting the results of recent tests where large thermal panels installed on a Land Rover Defender vehicle managed to eliminate the vehicle’s thermal signature, totally masking the vehicle from the thermal sight’s display.

Following a recent investment refuelling the start-up company, Eltics embarked on the development and testing of a full scale prototype of the Black-Fox active – adaptive – multi-spectral stealth system, to be able to mask a complete vehicle (both sides, front and rear). The system employs a thermal camera that samples the background view and a system processor and controller that recreates the necessary effects on the panels, blending the protected object into the background.

The company already raised 2.5 million in funding and plans to attract additional 5 million in the near future, enabling it to pursue the next stage – building and testing a full scale thermal suite in an operational test of the stealth technology. The compamy has embarked on a cooperative development with IMI, with the two companies joining forces in offering thermal adaptive signature management technology with IMI’s hybrid-reactive armor modules. The new combined module designated ‘Invisible Reactive Armor Protection’ (IRAP) will be designed to match a wide range of armored fighting vehicles.

By managing the heat distribution of the panels, the Black Fox system depicts a displayed across the panels, deceiving enemy sensors, therefore, making target identification, acquisition and tracking virtually impossible.

According to Ronen Meir Eltics CEO, the current system is capable of supporting an area 80 square meters of panels. This area will be sufficient to cover a large vehicle, on all sides. This installation will also employ specially designed windows that also minimize noticeable changes in thermal emissions, caused by the cooler transparent areas.

According to Meir, the company has also tested another function of the system – its ability to change pattern, depicting a different thermal silhouette. This function enables a ‘Black Fox’ equipped tank to ‘look like’ a truck, jeep or APC, or an air defense vehicle or missile launcher to look like an ordinary truck. These functions have significant implications in denying intelligence gathering by the enemy, by totally eliminating potential targets or misleading the enemy to regard such targets as ‘lower priority’ objects. In addition to denying enemy identification by thermal observation, Black Fox is also capable of deceiving or disrupting defending forces from being tracked or engaged by heat or Imaging Infra-red seekers.

12/05/11 By Tolga Ozbek Flight International

Turkish Aerospace Industries used the IDEF show in Istanbul to deliver updates on a number of its unmanned air system programmes. The company exhibited its Anka/Phoenix medium-altitude, long-endurance design and also displayed its Sivrisinek/Mosquito unmanned helicopter for the first time in public. Both systems are currently in flight test.

Referring to the Anka, TAI general manager Muharrem Dorktasli said: "We have begun the second prototype's test flights. The schedule is going on time." The company will build a total of five prototypes, with Dorktasli saying the first is planned for delivery next year.

Equipped with a forward-looking infrared sensor provided by Turkish company Aselsan, the Anka has already attracted international interest, with TAI talking to some countries in the Middle East about possible future sales.

© Tolga Ozbek

First flown earlier this year and developed using company funds, the vertical take-off and landing Mosquito (above) is being pitched initially to a domestic customer. "There is a market for an unmanned helicopter," Dorktasli said. "The Turkish army has a close interest and negotiations will start soon."

May 12, 2011 defense-aerospace.com

(Source: Hürriyet Daily News; published May 10, 2011)

The United States has approved the sale to Turkey by Saudi Arabia of six U.S.-made C-130E military cargo planes, senior Turkish and U.S. officials said late Monday. Turkey struck a deal last summer with Saudi Arabia to purchase the six older cargo planes.

The U.S. approval in late April comes at a time when two transport aircraft programs Turkey is involved in are faltering or facing major delays.

One procurement official told the Hürriyet Daily News that the planes were being purchased at a very reasonable price, but declined to specify a figure. An industry source suggested the unit price was less than $10 million.

The permission of the United States, the original manufacturer of the planes, was needed. “We weren’t expecting any major problems on this, and everything worked out well. We’re happy about this,” the procurement official said.

The planes are expected to arrive in Turkey later this year. The Turkish Air Force already is flying the older C-130B and C-130E models of the C-130 family, acquired from the United States decades ago.

As a member of the pan-European Airbus A400 consortium, Turkey has been planning to buy 10 A400M cargo planes, but the program has been facing major delays.

On the local C-130 upgrade front, Turkey’s efforts to achieve the avionic modernization of the Air Force’s 13 planes also have faced delays. Currently, the Turkish Air Force also has 19 older European-made C-160s, which originally were planned to eventually be replaced by the A400.

In addition, the Turkish military is operating about 50 CN-235 light transport aircraft Turkish Aerospace Industry, or TAI, had co-produced with Spain’s CASA in the 1980s and 1990s.

May 12 2011 Istanbul – Umit Enginson, HDN TRDEFENCE

Turkey soon will begin to design and develop a military and civilian light utility helicopter, probably together with a foreign partner, and possibly the U.S. Sikorsky Aircraft, defense procurement chief Murad Bayar said late Monday.

Bayar’s remarks to Hurriyet Daily News & Economic Review came during a boat tour of the Bosphorus on the sidelines of the 2011 International Defense Industry Fair, or IDEF, held in Istanbul between May 10 and 13.

Turkish President Abdullah Gül opened the fair Tuesday, saying that Turkey has been attaching great importance to defense industry in recent years.

“The country particularly has experienced great improvement in terms of designing the productions and using local sources in defense industry,” Gül said.

Earlier Bayar said on the light utility helicopter issue that Sikorsky, a leading manufacturer of various helicopters, did not have a helicopter weighing between 4,500 and 5,500 kilograms, the type of platform Turkey wants to develop.

“Turkey and Sikorsky Aircraft together can work on this matter. If it happens, it happens. If it doesn’t, we are ready to work with other companies,” Bayar said.

Another top Turkish defense official said Turkey wanted a foreign partner that can bring marketing advantages to the light utility helicopter program.

“It’s not that we can’t make that helicopter, we can make it. But we would prefer to work with a company that has large marketing capabilities also in third markets,” Muharrem Dortkasli, general manager of Turkish Aerospace Industries, or TAI, Turkey’s main aerospace company.

Export eyed for new copters

Both Bayar and Dortkasli said the new product should appeal to customers from Turkey and several other countries.

Bayar said Turkey would seriously begin to work on this new program later this year. “This is a high-priority program for us,” he said.

Sikorsky Aircraft in late April won a $3.5 billion contract against the Italian AgustaWestland to jointly manufacture the T-70 large utility helicopter weighing more than 10,000 kilograms, a Turkish version of its S-70i International Black Hawk.

Sikorsky and its Turkish partners led by TAI will produce in the first batch a total of 109 helicopters, mostly for military and security forces. With follow-on orders, the number of utility helicopters to be jointly produced may exceed 600, defense officials have said.

Turkish and Sikorsky officials have already discussed the light utility helicopter, and those talks are expected to intensify in future month.

A total of 25 defense ministers and four chiefs of the general staff attended IDEF’s opening. More than 500 local and international companies are taking part in the fair.

Turkey presently spends slightly over $4 billion for defense procurement a year, but in upcoming years this figure will rise in line with several major programs taking effect

The bi-annual IDEF fairs have been held in Turkey since the 1990s. Organized in odd years, the fair had been held in Ankara. But the venue changed in 2009, and the fair was taken to Istanbul.

May 10, 2011 defense-aerospace.com

(Source: Hürriyet Daily News; published May 10, 2011)

ISTANBUL --- A mockup of the Altay, the very first Turkish tank project, was displayed Tuesday at the International Defense Industry Fair, or IDEF, in Istanbul.

The mockup of the tank, developed by Turkey’s Otokar, still lacks the engine and several of the tank’s systems but looks exactly like the first prototype, which is due to be available in 2013, Otokar officials said Tuesday.

“The prototype of the Altay is ready,” Defense Minister Vecdi Gönül said during a press meeting April 30.

Otokar and its partners have been tasked with delivering four prototypes for the next generation of tanks by 2015.

The company is obtaining know-how from South Korea’s Hyundai Rotem under a 2008 agreement.