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  • Turkey once again postpones attack helicopter project: Decision day on March 6th (Feb. 15)

Longbow ApacheTurkey has again postponed the final selection of the manufacturer of the $4 billion attack helicopter project, and no decision will now be given until March 6, as opposed to Feb. 21. Written statements from bidding companies to ensure export clearance from their governments have not been received. Ten days ago Turkey requested that the bidding companies submit their best and final offers and their letters of assurance to the Undersecretariat for the Defense Industry (SSM) by today. It is understood that so far only the Russian companies have come up with a letter of assurances for export clearance. Two U.S. companies -- Boeing and Bell -- have submitted their required letters, but they could not commit to having any export guarantees. In the letters the companies advised Turkey to directly contact the governments involved for export licenses. They recalled that the U.S. administration gave marketing licenses to the companies two years ago, paving the way for them to bid in the Turkish project. The U.S. government at that time indicated that if any of the companies were selected in the attack helicopter project, the administration would view it in an unbiased manner, and this was reiterated in the companies' letters to the SSM. 

Traditionally governments importing arms should directly contact the exporter's government for export clearance rather than going through the companies themselves. However, by requesting export clearance guarantees from the companies, Turkey is putting pressure on the respective governments but avoiding placing a strain on relations with the nations themselves. The SSM also requested that the companies clarify what their life-cycle costs would be on the attack helicopter project. 

Recently appointed SSM Undersecretary Professor Dursun Ali Ercan told that the selection of a company is being postponed because he needs time to examine the project himself. 

A senior defense industry source said that the SSM has introduced new methods in the pre-selection of defense industry projects. According to this new practice a consultation mechanism has been established to thoroughly brief members of the SSM executive board on projects before any decision is made. The SSM executive board is comprised of the prime minister, the minister of defense, the chief of general staff and the commander of one of the forces related to the project. 

The SSM undersecretary acts as secretary in SSM executive board meetings. The consultative board, meanwhile, is composed of high-ranking generals from the General Staff as well as a senior general from the related command depending on the project and the SSM undersecretary. The consultative board will hold another meeting today. 

Under the new schedule, the consultation board will brief executive board members on the attack helicopter project on March 3. Following the briefing the SSM executive board members will decide on which company should be contracted, a move which has prompted the companies bidding to intensify their lobbying activities in Ankara. 

Companies bidding on the attack helicopter project have reportedly been writing letters to Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit in an attempt to gain his support. Previous advice from the Foreign Ministry prompted the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) to soften its policy on the export license guarantee it has been seeking from foreign competitors in both attack helicopters and main battle tank projects worth billions of dollars. 

Instead the Turkish military is now seeking bidders who can provide strong assurances that they will receive export clearance from their governments. It appears that Deputy Chief of General Staff Gen. Edip Baser, while on a recent official visit to the United States, could not obtain a written statement from the Clinton administration guaranteeing that if U.S. equipment is selected, there will be no delay in receiving export clearance. 

The five short-listed competitors in the helicopter project are: Boeing's AH-64D Apache Longbow (United States), Bell Helicopter-Textron's AH-1Z King Cobra (United States), Agusta's A129-I (Italy), Eurocopter's Tiger (France) and Kamov's KA-50/52 (Russia). There is speculation that the SSM executive board may announce a further short list of two companies in a bid to negotiate a better price for the program to supply a total of 145 helicopters. The value of the initial batch of 50 helicopters is expected to reach $2 billion. (Turkish Daily News, Lale Sariibrahimoglu). 

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