Gunship offer hard to refuse for Seoul

[AKINCI]

November 4, 2011 ÜMİT ENGİNSOY

Turkey’s TAI and Italy’s AgustaWestland have a good chance of winning a bid to jointly produce 30 helicopters for South Korea, an official tells the Daily News

A team of Turkish and Italian companies is seeking to win a South Korean contract for 30 attack helicopters worth $1 billion with the group’s T-129 gunship, a senior Turkish procurement official said Nov. 2.

“South Korea’s competition is a major one for at least 30 gunships and the T-129 has been shortlisted among a very small number of candidates. It has very good chances to become the winner,” said an Ankara-based defense analyst.

The partnership is between Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) and Italy’s AgustaWestland, which presently is co-producing 59 T-129s, a Turkish version of the Italian company’s A-129 Mangusta International, for the Turkish Army.

A senior TAI team went to Seoul last month to discuss a possible deal for the attack helicopters, the procurement official said.

AgustaWestland won a Turkish contract in 2008 worth billions of dollars to jointly build with TAI 50 T-129s for the Turkish Army.

Following intensified attacks by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) against Turkish targets in the summer of 2010, Ankara signed another contract with AgustaWestland for the production of nine additional T-129s for the Army. Those nine attack helicopters are planned to be delivered to Turkey by the end of next year.

Turkey and Italy said the T-129 would be exported to allied and friendly countries. South Korea is the first known third country interested in buying this chopper.

Separately, the arms-selling body of the Pentagon on Oct. 28 notified the U.S. Congress that it intends to sell three AH-1W Super Cobra attack helicopters to Turkey, whose Army uses these gunships effectively against the PKK. These choppers are due to arrive from the inventory of the U.S. Marine Corps. If no congressional opposition comes by Nov. 13, the sale will automatically be approved.

Turkey earlier this year signed a multibillion-dollar contract with the U.S. Sikorsky Aircraft for joint production with TAI of more than 100 T-70 military and civilian utility helicopters, a Turkish version of the U.S. company’s S-70i Black Hawk International.

TAI also plans to produce a light utility helicopter, weighing less than 5,500 kgs, with an international partner to be selected next year.

Turkey also signed a $400 million contract with the U.S. Boeing to buy six CH-47 heavy lift helicopters, the first in the inventory.

Turkey and South Korea are major political allies since Korean War in the early 1950s and have boosted defense cooperation over the past 10 years. Turkey is manufacturing howitzers under South Korean license.

They also are jointly building a basic trainer aircraft for the Turkish Air Force. A South Korean company is providing Turkey with technology transfer and know-how for the manufacture of Turkey’s first national battle tank. TAI and South Korea are discussing possible cooperation for the construction of a joint fighter aircraft in the 2020s.

But a team from Turkey’s procurement office and the German HDW shipyards are competing with South Korea’s Daewoo to win a $1 billion Indonesian contract for at least 2 Class-209 submarines.

Gunship offer hard to refuse for Seoul - Hurriyet Daily News