Tag: Sikorsky

Turkey to partner with Sikorsky to export choppers to countries in region

Turkey will become an important hub for producing and exporting choppers in the near future, Ministry of Defense officials told the Anatolia news agency on Wednesday.

Sikorsky’s Blackhawk S-70i model is likely to be the kind of helicopter Turkey and the American aerospace company will export.

Sikorsky’s Blackhawk S-70i model is likely to be the kind of helicopter Turkey and the American aerospace company will export.

The source said that Turkey and American company Sikorsky will produce choppers in Turkey and start exports as soon as possible to third countries. He noted that Turkey aims to acquire know-how in the defense field with this project in order to make the country a potential helicopter production hub.

Defense Minister Vecdi Gönül announced on April 21 that Sikorsky had won a $3.5 billion deal to sell 109 choppers to Turkey. Under the agreement, part of those 109 choppers would be produced in Turkey. According to details Gönül shared with the media at that time, the Sikorsky helicopters to be produced in Turkey would be designed specifically for Turkey’s needs in the 10-ton category, each with a capacity to carry 18 passengers. The choppers will be produced according to a 10-year plan and used for multiple purposes, from defense to firefighting. The state-owned Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) is the main contracting party for the production of certain parts.

The source mentioned that, besides the agreement to sell helicopters to Turkey, Sikorsky agreed to export at least 200 choppers produced in Turkey to its customers around the world. The official underlined that Turkey had acquired an important opportunity for the transfer of know-how in defense technology from the United States with this agreement. “Soon or later, Turkey will become an important center for producing and exporting these helicopters,” officials said. According to the agreement, local companies in Turkey will produce the transmission, engine, software, avionic and optical systems, flight remote systems and the landing gear of the helicopters.

A leap forward in Turkish defense industry

While opening the country’s defense industry to the world, Turkey has placed greater importance on its national defense industry in the past few years than it has in the history of the republic.

As the infrastructure of its defense sector improved, the country began designing and producing its own defense products using only domestic resources. The 10th International Defense Industry Fair (IDEF’11), which was recently held in İstanbul with the participation of 575 domestic and foreign companies from 44 countries, was a recent opportunity to observe the transformation the Turkish defense industry has undergone in the past few years. Turkey introduced a number of firsts in its defense industry at this fair to attract the attention of foreign customers. Turkey’s first domestically built warship, the Heybeliada, Turkey’s first national tank, the Altay, Turkey’s first guided bomb, produced by Turkish Mechanical and Chemical Industry Corporation (MKEK) and developed by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK), as well as its first domestically produced rifles were among the products exhibited at IDEF’11.

In other figures that further highlight the increased activity in the Turkish defense industry, defense product manufacturers earned total revenue of $2.73 billion and spent $666 million in research and development activities last year, up from $2.31 billion and $505 million, respectively, in 2009. In February, a Turkish defense company secured a $600 million deal –Turkey’s largest single sale in defense industry exports — in Malaysia.

In line with these developments, international companies have placed the Turkish defense industry on the top of their potential partner countries. The head of French missile and missile systems producer MBDA said in a previous statement they see potential for cooperation with Turkey’s strong defense industry. Antoine Bouvier, CEO of MBDA, told the Anatolia news agency that Turkey’s defense industry has made strategic investments in the recent past and that his company could be involved in more partnerships with companies from Turkey. “We see strong potential in Turkey for cooperation in various fields of the defense industry,” Bouvier said.

via Turkey to partner with Sikorsky to export choppers to countries in region.

May 26, 2011
U.S. Navy Mixes Business and Politics in Istanbul

U.S. Navy Mixes Business and Politics in Istanbul

May 16, 2011 – 6:17pm, by Joshua Kucera

A U.S.. naval ship, the USS Mahan, visited Istanbul last week for a short port visit. These sorts of things happen all the time and aren’t usually noteworthy. But the blog Bosphorus Naval News paid close attention to this visit, and noted that the visit may have been driven by commercial, rather than merely friendly, motivations. The destroyer’s visit happened to take place during a big defense exposition, IDEF, and the U.S. ambassador’s comments at the expo used the ship as a showpiece for U.S. defense industry:

I join Commander Mondlak and his crew in inviting you to tour the proud USS Mahan. This fine example of American high technology and advanced engineering, and is itself the result of partnerships between numerous American companies, including Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, McDonnell Douglas, General Electric, Alliant, Gould, and Sikorsky, many of whom are represented at IDEF.

In particular, the Mahan has a sort of radar that is under consideration for the next generation of Turkish ships. And U.S. defense contractor Lockheed Martin had just signed a deal with Turkish manufacturer Havelsan involving production of those radars.

The signed contract of course raises the question whether the next generation of Turkish warships will have SPY radars and components of AEGIS systems on board.

The blog, in a separate post, takes issue with that deal given that Turkey also manufactures naval radars:

One of the contracts signed during the fair was between Havelsan and Lockheed Martin for the integration of SPY phased radar systems to the CMS made by Havelsan. The SPY radars are the backbone of the US Navy’s AEGIS air and anti ballistic missile defence system.

Well this question must be asked: On one hand there is a local electronics power house like ASELSAN that is trying to develop naval radar systems on the other hand you sign a deal with a US company about the most important and significant air defence radar systems. How will this deal effect the local development and why it was necessary.

And from an American perspective, one might ask: how often are these sorts of port calls made for commercial reasons? Did Lockheed reimburse the U.S. Navy for the expenses it incurred on this sales visit?

via U.S. Navy Mixes Business and Politics in Istanbul | EurasiaNet.org.

May 17, 2011
Sikorsky bags $3.5 bln helicopter deal with Turkey

* Decade-long contract could be expanded

* Sikorsky beat AgustaWestland to the deal

(Adds details)

ISTANBUL, April 21 (Reuters) – Turkey has awarded U.S. firm Sikorsky a contract on Thursday worth $3.5 billion to supply 109 military helicopters, with the possibility of nearly 500 more over 10 years.

Sikorsky, owned by United Technologies (UTX.N), beat a rival bid by Italy’s AgustaWestland, owned by Finmeccanica (SIFI.MI).

Defence Minister Vecdi Gonul said the decade-long project could eventually become far larger.

“At first stage, 109 helicopters will be supplied, but this can increase up to 600 helicopters during the 10-year term of the project,” Gonul said.

“The project will be worth around $3.5 billion. The schedule of supply will be determined in the coming period,” he added.

He said Turkish aerospace firm TUSAS will produce several parts for the helicopters.

The helicopters, which would be used by Turkish armed forces and the police, are part of a drive to modernise the country’s defences.

Shares in Sikorsky’s parent United Technology rose 0.2 percent to $86.11 in early trading in New York.

Last year, Trade Minister Zafer Caglayan said Sikorsky planned to build a helicopter plant in Turkey. (Writing by Simon Cameron-Moore; Editing by Will Waterman)

via UPDATE 1-Sikorsky bags $3.5 bln helicopter deal with Turkey | Reuters.

April 22, 2011
Turkey continues talks over helicopters purchase

ANKARA, Dec 15 (Reuters) – NATO member Turkey said on Wednesday negotiations to buy 121 helicopters from bidders U.S. Sikorsky Aircraft and Italy’s Agusta-Westland were continuing after their offers were found to be ‘inadequate’.

‘We will continue talks with the two bidders to try to negotiate a lower price,’ Turkey’s Defence Minister Vecdi Gonul told journalists at the end of a defence ministry committee meeting which was chaired by Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan.

The helicopters, which would be used by the Turkish armed forces and the police, are part of a modernisation of the country’s defence.

The only two bidders are Sikorsky, a unit of United Technologies, and Agusta-Westland, a unit of Finmeccanica SpA. Keywords: TURKEY HELICOPTERS/BIDDERS

(ibon.villelabeitia@reuters.com; Telephone: +90 312 292 7022; Reuters Messaging: ibon.villelabeitia.reuters.com@reuters.net)

COPYRIGHT

Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved.

via XE.com – Turkey continues talks over helicopters purchase.

December 16, 2010
Turkey to choose new military helicopter model next week

The Defense Industry Executive Committee, Turkey’s top decision-making body on procurement, is expected to select a winner next week for a $4 billion contract to produce about a hundred military-grade helicopters. The main contenders are Italy’s AgustaWestland and the U.S.’ Sikorsky Aircraft

Sikorsky says it has a fourfold benefit package worth billions of dollars to offer to Turkey. Bloomberg photo

Turkey next week is due to select a winner in a competition between an Italian firm and a U.S. company for a major program to jointly produce its military’s next utility helicopter type. The contenders vying for the $4 billion contract are the mainly Italian AgustaWestland and the U.S. Sikorsky Aircraft Corp.

The Defense Industry Executive Committee, Turkey’s top decision-making body on defense procurement – whose members include Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Defense Minister Vecdi Gönül, Chief of General Staff Gen. Işık Koşaner and procurement chief Murad Bayar – will gather Dec. 15, one senior procurement official told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review on Wednesday.

“The committee is expected to choose a winner for our utility helicopter program at next week’s meeting,” the official said.

AgustaWestland is proposing its TUHP 149, a Turkish version of its A149, a newly developed utility helicopter. The A149’s full prototype will have its first flight in January.

Sikorsky Aircraft is offering the T-70, the Turkish version of the S-70 Black Hawk International, which can be found in the inventories of dozens of countries around the world, including Turkey.

The competition is for a first batch of 109 utility helicopters, mostly for the military and security forces. But the number is expected to rise to about 300 in later years.

A top Sikorsky official announced in early October that his company had a fourfold benefit package worth billions of dollars to offer to Turkey. “If Turkey selects us for the 109 helicopter program, we will buy another 109 to be manufactured in Turkey, and export them to third countries,” Steve Estill, vice president for strategic partnerships at the Sikorsky president’s office, said at the time.

Sikorsky also is proposing to buy $1.3 billion worth of Turkish-made helicopter components, to set up a regional Black Hawk support base in Turkey and to invest in a future Turkish project to build a light utility helicopter, Estill said.

Tough competition

AgustaWestland shortly later challenged Sikorsky’s proposal. “Our competition is offering the manufacture under license of an already existing product,” Guiseppe Orsi, chief executive officer of AgustaWestland said in late October. “We are offering much, much more. We are offering Turkey to become a joint developer of a brand-new product. Turkey may become a real helicopter player in the world if it chooses us.”

Orsi said nearly 8,000 utility helicopters are expected to be replaced in the world in the upcoming decades, suggesting that his company’s Turkish program could grab international orders for at least 800 of those.

Assuming that each helicopter’s acquisition price and its lifetime maintenance cost are both are around $25 million, and the TUHP program gets orders for 800 platforms over the next 25-30 years, “the program would collect a total of $40 billion, half of which would go to Turkey,” he said.

Turkey’s Army, Navy, Air Force, Special Operations Command and Coast Guard Command are among the buyers of the first batch of military utility helicopters.

The Turkish Aerospace Industries, or TAI, Turkey’s main aerospace manufacturer, officially will be the program’s prime contractor. Several other Turkish firms also will take part in the production.

Presently, the Turkish military is operating several different types of utility helicopters. The military has more than 100 S-70s, more than 100 older U.S.-made UH-1 Hueys, around 20 French-designed AS-532 Cougars and about 15 Russian Mi-17s.

AgustaWestland secured two earlier contracts, worth billions of dollars each, to lead the joint production of 60 T-129 attack helicopters for the Turkish Army.

December 10, 2010
Turkey to select next-generation helicopter

Monday, October 26, 2009

ÜMİT ENGİNSOY

ANKARA – Hürriyet Daily News

Turkey is preparing to select a new utility helicopter model, which it plans to produce and use for both military and civilian purposes over the next 20 years.

Turkey’s procurement office is presently holding talks with a U.S. company and a European consortium. One of them will lead the work with local partners to jointly produce hundreds of utility platforms worth billions of dollars.

The two firms are the U.S. Sikorsky Aircraft and the Italian-British AgustaWestland. Sikorsky is competing with its S-70 Black Hawk International and AgustaWestland is offering a platform currently being developed for the Turkish contract.

The two companies presented their best offers in September, and Turkey’s Defense Industry Executive Committee is expected to choose a winner before the year-end, senior procurement officials told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review.

The members of the Defense Industry Executive Committee, Turkey’s top decision-making body on procurement matters, include Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Chief of General Staff Gen. İlker Başbuğ, Defense Minister Vecdi Gönül and Chief Procurement Officer Murad Bayar.

The first batch of utility helicopters to be jointly produced will comprise 109 platforms, worth more than $1 billion.

Some 40 of those platforms will go for civilian purposes, and the rest will be military helicopters for the Army, the Navy, the Air Force and the Gendarmerie.

20 helicopters a year

“After the first batch of 109 helicopters, we expect to order nearly 20 helicopters a year from this assembly line for many years,” one procurement official said.

“So the model we choose will be Turkey’s standard utility helicopter model for the next 20 years,” said the official. Turkey also plans to export this jointly manufactured utility platform.

Presently, the Turkish military is operating several different types of helicopters. The military has more than 100 S-70s, more than 100 older U.S.-made UH-1 Hueys and 19 French-designed AS-532 Cougars.

Separately, the procurement office is holding government-to-government talks with the United States for the purchase of 10 CH-47 Chinook heavy-lift helicopters, made by Boeing. In the long run, Turkey wants to design, develop and manufacture its own light utility helicopter.

Hürriyet Daily News

October 26, 2009