Executive Committee Calls Announced “Awarding Procedure Delayed in T-LORAMIDS Tender”

 

By Cem Akalın

Defence Industry Executive Committee(DIEC) gathered under Prime Minister RecepTayyip Erdoğan’s chairmanship. Chief of the General Staff General Necdet Özel and Minister of National Defenceİsmet Yılmaz and other defence officials participated the meeting lasted for 4 hours. Main agenda of the meeting was the Long Range Air and Missile Defence Systems Project (T-LORAMIDS). The declaration of the awarded bidder was expected now that the last stage of the 4 billion USD project arrived but there was no announcement regarding the Long Range Air and Missile Defence Systems Project. It was stated in the press release dispatched following the meeting that the talks will be continued with the American consortium Raytheon & Lockheed Martin, French-Italian concern EUROSAM, Chinese company CPMIEC and Russian firm ROSOBORONEKSPORT. Concerns rose when the call was delayed right before Prime Minister Erdoğan’s critical visit to Russia and the questions emerged whether there were a new offer at the table or would Turkey ask for the S-400 missiles from Russia. Then again the Russian Defence Ministry declared that the S-400 missiles would not be sold to other countries before the year 2015, therefore this issue would not be brought into the agenda during Turkish Prime Minister’s visit to Russia and as expected during the Erdoğan-Putin meeting only the Syria issue and other economic relations were talked. This shows that Russia would not revise her S-300 offer and change it with S-400 and that the current state of the Russian bid would remain.

Turkish government’s recent economic cooperation with China is expected to be effective in the tender. However China is lagged behind her European and American rivals for the Russian and Chinese missile systems are not compatible with systems of the NATO. France/Italy concern EUROSAM is the European participant of the tender and EUROSAM’s removal from the bidders was considered for a while when the French-Turkish relations became tense with the French Bill about Genocide. Turkey removing the sanctions against France with the election of François Holland after Sarkozy and the constructive messages conveyed by two countries’ leaders at the G-20 summit indicate the beginning of a new era of French –Turkish relations.

Where this new era renders EUROSAM’s position in the tender stronger than its rivals the move from American Raytheon & Lockheed Martin is awaited. The last stage of T-LORAMIDS tender arrived.

Let’s see the last moves of the USA, Russia, China and French/Italian partnership to win the tender.

American Raytheon & Lockheed Martin Consortium offered " Patriot ( PAC3)", Chinese CPMIEC company bidded with " HQ-9", Russian RosoboronexportT bidded "S-300" and EUROSAM is competing with SAMP/T" systems in the tender.

The Armed Anka Plus Will be Developed by TAI with National Resources

During the DIEC meeting a very significant decision was made besides the T-LORAMIDS project. Committee decided that the talks with TAI on a contract for the pre-design of an improved type of the turbo-probe engine Anka unmanned aerial vehicle with a longer range and bigger freight capacity should be started. Turkey’s domestic production of an armed combatant/reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicle was in the agenda since recently USA’s

attitude on the sale of armed Predator II (MQ-9 Reaper) was not positive. With the decision made in the latest DIEC meeting the development of Anka’s armed type will be launched.

An armed type of Anka is may already be designed by TAI, since TAI designs different types of each product it develops for Turkish Armed Forces’ needs and as a result this project would be accomplished after a short period of 3-3,5 years. The detailed design process is expected to last for 16-18 months after the signature of the contract between TAI and the Undersecratariat of Defence Industries. Following the detailed design process, DIEC will announce the date of production of the plane and the production process is anticipated to last take 1,5-2 years. Anka Plus’ testing flights will start subsequently.

It will Compete with MQ-9 Reaper

This combatant/reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicle named Anka Plus is planned to weigh about 3.5 to 5 tons. Anka’s current utility freight capacity is approximately 200 kgs and the armed type is aimed to have a capacity of 1-1,5 tons. Anka-Plus’ speed is within the range of 200-250 knots and its cruising altitude will be over 40.000 feet. This new modal plane will be designed according to the needs of the Turkish Armed Forces and Turbo-prob engines will be used. With a span of 22-23 meters the structure of the plane will be completely different than Anka. Anka’s task system, light control system and avionic architecture will be integrated to this plane to a great extent. On the other hand communication within Anka Plus will be established via satellite and therefore the plane will fly at high altitudes and minimize the risk of becoming a target. With the satellite communication system, the necessity of the plane antenna’s seeing the ground base as in current Ankas will be over. In this way, Anka Plus will function in a wider range and especially with the launch of Göktürk satellite the plane’s effective firing range may be increased. Plane’s endurance period may increase with the enlargement of its fuel tank in line with the demand of the Turkish Armed Forces and with its utility freight capacity boosting up to 1 to 1.5 tons. ROKETSAN’s domestic weapon platforms such as Cirit and Umtas are expected to be positioned within the Anka Plus.

Key Decisions at Executive Committee Meeting

Besides the T-LORAMIDS project and development of a new type Anka unmanned aerial vehicle project, many key decisions related to the new projects for boosting Turkey’s defence capacity were made at the DIEC meeting. The conclusions signed by National Defence Minister İsmet Yılmaz are as follows:

•Starting the talks with the Savunma Teknolojileri Mühendislik ve Ticaret A.Ş. on a contract for the design of a supply vessel in order to allow Turkey benefiting more from space establishing a satellite launching center

• Starting the talks for a contract with the Istanbul Denizcilik Gemi İnşa Sanayive Ticaret A.Ş. within the project of Coast Guard SAR-33 boat’s modernization

•Initiating talks with Havelsan Hava Elektronik Sanayi ve Ticaret A.Ş. within the framework of Submarine Diving Simulator Project

•Commencing the meetings with Aselsan Elektronik Sanayi ve Ticaret A.Ş. for the development of a national electronic warfare system within Yavuz class frigates.

•Inception of various R&D projects with the participation of related industrial institutes and universities to develop systems and materials for the weapons, systems and platforms that will be supplied through domestic development in line with Turkish Armed Forces’ needs is agreed on.

•The Undersecretariat for DefenceIndustries is authorized for supplying of 5 light helicopters required by the General Directorate of Forestry and the helicopter needs of the Turkish National Police within the framework of the existing contract signed with the Bell helicopter company.

• Also, the required processes for construction of a second runway for the Sabiha Gökçen International Airport by the Ministry of Transportation, Maritime Affairs and Communication will be commenced by the Undersecretariat for Defence Industries.

•The Undersecretariat is authorized on the establishment of a credit-based incentive system for contributing to the improvement of the technological infrastructures and qualified product development activities of the domestic industrial institutions.

• In addition to these, in line with the growing needs of the Turkish Armed Forces, the execution committee concluded that the projects required for the following shall be launched.

• Helicopter Modernization for the Special Forces,

• Avionic Modernization of Cn-235,

• Supplying Logistic Support Ship