T-FX Program Management Office Commenced Operations in Ankara
T-FX Program Management Office was launched at the premises of TAI at the METU Teknokent Campus with a ceremony. Studies and activities for the design of the T-FX program conducted by the Undersecretariat for Defense Industries, which is planned to replace the F-16 jets within the inventory of the Air Forces in the upcoming period, will be carried out at this Office. Commander of the Turkish Air Forces, General Abidin Ünal, Undersecretary for Defense Industries Prof. İsmail Demir, Turkish Air Forces Foundation Chairman (TSKGV) Orhan Akbaş, METU Rector Prof. Ahmet Acar and senior representatives of Aselsan, Havelsan, Roketsan, STM, TAI and BAE Systems companies attended the opening ceremony.
Following the ribbon cutting, a briefing on the studies to be conducted at the management office was given to Commander of Air Forces, General Abidin Ünal and the accompanying delegation.
After the briefing, Commander of Turkish Air Forces General Abidin Ünal addressed the guests. General Ünal said, “Within the strategy determined by our Great Leader Atatürk, we are continuously endeavoring to build powerful air forces and a competent aerospace industry. In light of this strategy, we already have dominant air forces. Yet, we have always been a step behind considering the industry. The T-FX program, which is a highly complex program with its technology and design aspects, has been Turkey’s giant project to date. Today, within the framework of this mission, we have to execute this program without any interruptions. We have assumed a crucial responsibility in order to successfully and integrally manage the technology development, technology road map, and configuration development activities as part of this program. We will be achieving this through project management office logic. The representatives of the government, industry and supply authorities will be operating in an integrated manner at this management office. With this management style we will be gain crucial time”.
Stating that one of the main topics of the agenda was the selection of the foreign partner, Full General Ünal said, “The negotiations on the contract and on the contract’s conclusion in a way that it would fulfill our demands are continuing with the foreign company. There are a few problems at this point which require to be solved strategically. Within the scope of the program, will Turkey select the single engine or the twin – engine? We need to identify which type will be utilized as well as the basic configuration. To this end, we will be accelerating our activities in the upcoming weeks and will make our path more visible”.
Within the scope of the T-FX program, TAI will be assuming the role of main contractor throughout the preliminary design phase. The company started negotiating with BAE Systems for the “Selection of the Foreign Cooperation Company” in previous months. As a result of the verification studies and the negotiations conducted with the parties, selection of the company to cooperate with is expected occur soon.
