Turkey set to forge major S. Korea defense deals

Turkey set to forge major S. Korea defense deals

Turkey has decided to start contract negotiations with South Korea’s Korean Aerospace Industries (KAI) for the production of 55 basic training aircraft (BTA) and with Rotem, another South Korean company, for the local production of main battle tanks, with both projects estimated to cost around $1 billion in total.

Turkey’s Undersecretariat for the Defense Industry (SSM), the country’s civilian arms procurement agency, announced via its Web site on June 20 that the SSM Executive Committee, the top decision making body on arms, had decided to start contract negotiations with KAI for BTA production.
Brazil’s Embraer was also competing in the project with Super Tucano.
The SSM Executive Committee this time did not hold a meeting, but signatures were collected from their members, i.e., Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Defense Minister Vecdi Gönül and Chief of General Staff Gen. Yaşar Büyükanıt.

South Korean press, meanwhile, reported on June 21 that Seoul will export its next-generation tank XK-2 Heukpyo, a.k.a. Black Panther, and training plane KT-1 Ungbi to Turkey. The contract is worth more than 500 billion won ($1 = W 938), the second-largest arms export deal in Korea’s history, said Korean media reports.
Korean media quoted the country’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) as saying on Thursday that the Turkish government had announced the launch of negotiations with KAI to purchase the training planes.
KT-1 Ungbi was developed by DAPA in 1988, and the first KT-1 went into service in November 2000 — the Korean Air Force uses 85 of them. A DAPA official said 12 KT-1s have been exported to Indonesia. The training plane has a top speed of 574 kilometers per hour with a 950 horsepower engine.
The SSM issued a request for proposal (RfP) on Jan. 6 last year for the procurement of 36 plus 19 optional BTA that will include maximum local content. Turkey’s plans to acquire BTA date back almost six years.
The project was further delayed when a disagreement occurred between the SSM and the Turkish Air Force Command in 2005 with the former objecting to buy the aircraft sole source from US Raytheon through the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) credit. But upon the SSM’s insistence the Turkish Air Force Command abandoned the sole-source purchase plan, paving the way for the acquisition of the BTAs via international competition.
South Korea beats Germany in tank project
As part of a policy of increasing local input in all projects while giving an end to joint production models, the SSM seeks a the establishment of a production line at the Tusas Aerospace Industries (TAI) facilities near Ankara with maximum usage of local industry. Local defense firm ASELSAN is expected to play a leading role in the avionics suite supply. The SSM seeks a 60 percent offset and local content in the project.
Turkey has Italian Agusta-made SF-260D as well as Raytheon-made T-37C and T-38A BTA aircraft in its inventory, with all of them now close to becoming obsolete.
Meanwhile South Korea’s Rotem beat German Krauss Maffei Wegman in Turkey’s bid to locally produce four main battle tank (MBT) prototypes for an estimated cost of around $500 million.
Turkey has selected local Otokar in late March this year for the local design and development of around four MBT prototypes. Once prototypes are produced, the SSM will decide on the production of 250 tanks under a separate deal. The local FNSS-BMC partnership was also competing in the project.
Otokar, the main contractor in the project, plans to produce the first diesel fuelled tank in 2012. Rotem was competing with German Krauss Maffei Wegman as subcontractors in the project to extend technology support in tank production. The latter was offering a workshare deal in the project, while Rotem’s bid was based on technology transfer, according to a local industry source.
Korean media quoted DAPA as saying on Thursday that the technology to manufacture the Heukpyo tank will be exported to Turkey and the vehicle will be produced there. The tanks cost 8.3 billion ($9 million) won each.
The tanks will have a 120-mm gun and can protect themselves from chemical, biological and radioactive attacks. Their maximum speed is 70 kilometers per hour, courtesy of a 150-horsepower engine, and they can function under 4.1 meters of water.
DAPA and Rotem, an affiliate of the Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group, invested 200 billion won over the past 12 years in development of the tank. It will be put into service in 2011, said the South Korean local press.
MBT production has been a long-awaited capability in Turkey; indigenous design, development and production was chosen following the cancellation of an MBT co-production project in May 2004.
Turkish-South Korean cooperation in arms projects was first launched in 2001 when the two countries signed a record $1 billion defense deal in Seoul for the procurement of Howitzers, codenamed Fırtına (storm).
South Korea’s Samsung Techwin has been supplying howitzer components to Turkey. The deal is the first part of a 10-year agreement under which the Korean firm will supply components for more than 300 howitzers.