Eurofighter!!!!!!!
Turkey Eyes European Gap-Filler During Wait for U.S.-Built JSF
May 15 2004
By BURAK EGE BEKDIL, ANKARA And UMIT ENGINSOY, WASHINGTON
Buying the Eurofighter Typhoon could help the Turkish Air Force to fill its growing fighter gap until Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) deliveries begin, Turkish procurement officials said.
Although there is no consensus in Ankara, the European aircraft could meet the Air Force’s medium-term needs while diversifying its largely U.S.-made aircraft inventory, these procurement officials said.
“The Eurofighter looks like a feasible option in terms of quality, possible shared work for our local industry, technology transfer and financing,” said one Turkish procurement official.
Turkey is seeking to become a full member of the European Union and is complaining about the local work share and the limited technology transfer it has received in a number of defense deals with the United States.
A Turkish military official said the government is weighing its options.
“In theory, it would be good if we depended less on U.S.-origin aircraft and their systems. But in practice, it may bring about further complications,” the military official said. “There is not yet an established idea in this regard.”
Turkey’s fighter fleet consists mainly of more than 200 F-16 aircraft designed by Lockheed Martin, Bethesda, Md.
In July 2002, Ankara announced its intention to replace its F-16s with F-35 JSFs, and agreed to pay $175 million to join the JSF’s ongoing System Development and Demonstration (SDD) phase.
The high-tech, next-generation fighter program is worth more than $200 billion. Lockheed Martin will lead the work to build more than 3,000 supersonic JSFs.
The SDD phase, launched in October 2001, so far involves eight U.S. allies in addition to the United States.
The multinational Eurofighter consortium, based in Halbergmoos, Germany, manages the development and production of the Eurofighter Typhoon. Its partners include BAE SYSTEMS, London; Alenia Aeronautica SpA, Rome; and the German-French-Spanish partnership EADS, Amsterdam.
Britain, Germany, Italy and Spain, the four main partners, have ordered a total of 620 Eurofighters, while Austria has decided to purchase 18 aircraft and Greece plans to buy another 60. Britain and Italy plan to purchase both the JSF and the Eurofighter.
While Eurofighter deliveries are scheduled to begin soon, the F-35’s mass production is planned to take off only after 2012. Ankara said it wants to buy nearly 100 F-35s; deliveries would begin around 2015.
Turkish officials said that they need to buy 20 to 30 fighters before mid-2010 to replace more than 20 Turkish F-16s that have crashed because of various causes in the past 15 years.
A few years ago, Turkey had preliminary talks with Lockheed Martin for a potential purchase of up to 32 new F-16s to replace the attrition aircraft, but there was little progress because of Ankara’s financial hardships.
“This time if Turkey finds the money to buy some new fighters in a not-too-distant future, there’s no guarantee it’ll buy the F-16,” said George Coats, a London-based Turkey specialist.
“Turkey is involved in a tough bargaining process with the EU for its accession to the bloc, and the Turks may think that a few business deals could strengthen their chances,” he said. “So they could opt for some 20 Eurofighters.”
Industry sources said that Alenia Aeronautica is considering opening a liaison office in the Turkish capital to market the Eurofighter.
An official from the consortium confirmed the plan for the office, but did not comment on the motivation.
“At this stage, I cannot tell more,” he said.
The Turkish procurement official said that Ankara would overcome persistent technology transfer problems if it went for a European aircraft option.
“The problems we have had with Washington over technology transfer in several Air Force and Army programs are all in the public domain. A European stop-gap solution may work well,” he said.
A senior Turkish general recently reiterated complaints over limited technology transfer from its key NATO ally.
“We are considering upgrading our Block 30, 40 and 50 models of F-16s with the United States provided that we find a feasible solution,” Maj. Gen. Korcan Pulatsu, chief of plans and policy at the Turkish Air Force, told a Washington conference on defense April 6.
“The level of cooperation with the United States has not yet been at desirable levels,” he said.
Washington rejects Turkey’s criticism. “Turkey is not singled out. U.S. export restrictions apply to all allies, including even Britain,” said one Pentagon official. 😮
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