|
Turkey has chosen constructor Bell Helicopter-Textron and its Cobra
AH-1 model to supply Ankara with 145 combat helicopters, the German
daily Die Welt reported Sunday.
On March 6 Ankara had
announced three constructors were still in the running for the
order: the Russian-Israeli Kamov, the Italian Agusta and Bell
Helicopter-Textron. The Franco-German Eurocopter and the US Boeing
company had been dropped.
Die Welt said Turkey had opted for the Cobra because that model had
been adapted for the Israeli and American armies, with whom Ankara
could collaborate.
Turkey in 1997 launched the four billion dollar bid offer for joint
production of the helicopters in Turkish Aerospace Industries'
installations near Ankara, with a foreign partner to modernize its
armed forces' combat capability.
Die Welt said however that it was not yet known whether the
helicopters would be made in Turkey or delivered ready for use.
Ankara, which has the biggest army numerically in NATO after the
United States, its main arms supplier, intends to spend some 150
billion dollars on modernizing its army over the next 30 years. (Defense
and Aerospace)
Click to return the ATAK News Headlines
|
