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 Foreign companies that have engaged in a fierce competition for Turkey's $4 billion attack helicopter co-production project are required to supply Ankara with precision-guided missiles, guns and aerial rockets to equip the aircraft. This will allow Turkey to have immediate operational readiness and the capability of destroying, for example, half a battalion enemy tanks with one helicopter.
Among the key requirements of Turkey's Defense Industries Undersecretariat
(SSM) imposed on the bidding companies for the attack helicopter project is that the aircraft can be operated in five mission profiles. As such, the companies must supply at least eight precision-guided missiles, 20 to 30 mm guns, with a range of 4 kilometers, and 2.75 inch unguided aerial rockets. Another requirement is that all those systems must be able be operational in extreme climatic conditions -- especially high temperatures.
The missiles that the five competing companies are offering to Turkey are as follows:
HellFire missiles by two U.S. companies, Boeing (AH-64D Longbow Apache:
HellFire II/IIK/RF) and Bell Helicopter-Textron (AH-1Z "Zulu" King
Cobra: HellFire II/IIK); NT-Dandy-81 mm, similar to HellFires, by Italy's Agusta (A129-I);
TriGAT LR (not in production) by France's Eurocopter (Tiger); and NT-Dandy by Russia's
Kamov, which is competing jointly with Israel's IAI
(Ka-50-2T-Erdogan).
The project involves the co-production of 145 helicopters, with an initial batch of 50 expected to cost $2 billion. However, some foreign companies bidding in the project have made a variety of offers to Turkey in an attempt to increase their chances of winning the contract.
The Turkish Land Forces Command (KKK) has also set down a requirement under the conditions of the project for the companies to lease 10 attack helicopters to Turkey in order to meet its immediate requirements. Those will either be the models that the companies have been offering to sell in the co-production project or a similar model. However, because the type of attack helicopters that most of the companies are offering are either in the prototype stage or not in the inventories of their countries' armies, they have not been able to guarantee the lease.
The one exception is U.S. Bell, which has offered to lease itsAH-1W/-W4B Super/Viper Cobras to Turkey with the intention of increasing its chances of winning the contract. There are already
9 Super Cobras in the inventory of the KKK that were previously supplied by Bell. Boeing had earlier offered to sell between 20 and 27 of its ageing Apache A helicopters to Turkey, but the Turkish military was apparently reluctant to make the deal due to the cost of training Turkish pilots to use the unfamiliar aircraft.
The SSM once again postponed the final selection of a bidder or two bidders in its $4 billion attack helicopter project from Feb. 21 to March 6, and the deadline for companies to present their letter of assurances of exportation guarantees expired on Feb. 15. Out of the companies only Russia's
Kamov, competing with
Ka-50-2T Erdogan in cooperation with Israel's IAI, presented a letter of assurances for export clearance. Boeing and Bell have submitted their required letters but could not commit to having any export guarantees. Neither the Italian nor the French companies were able to provide assurances to Turkey.
(Turkish Daily News, Lale Sariibrahimoglu)
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