Turkey Becomes the MRO Hub of JSF Aircrafts in Europe
Within the scope of the Memorandum of Understanding for the Production Sustainment and Follow on Development (PSFD MOU) signed in 2007 by the Undersecretariat for Defence Industries and Air Forces Command as part of the JSF Project, the negotiations for positioning the engine production and maintenance capabilities in Turkey were initiated. In the following phase of the Program, an analysis study was launched in 2011 together with the US Government and Pratt & Whitney Company. Consequently, Turkey was granted the permission to conduct studies as the F135 Engine Depot Level Maintenance Center by the US Government’s National Disclosure Policy adopted in 2013.
After the resolution of 2013, Turkey attended all critical program meetings executed by the JSF Program Office and Office of the Undersecretary of Defence for Acquisitions, Technology and Logistics, and Turkey’s determination was conveyed to all the addressees. On the other hand, coordination was achieved during the process through the US Government’s and production company Pratt & Whitney’s technical visits to the engine production and maintenance facilities in Eskişehir.
According to the resolution of December 2014, Turkey drew away from Norway and Netherlands and was selected as the program facility to serve alone as F135 Depot Level Maintenance (DLM) center for 3 years starting from 2018. With this assignment, one of the most significant objectives within the scope of JSF Project, the production and maintenance capabilities for F135 engine would be acquired. In consequence of the process assessed comprehensively by the US Government, Turkey’s experiences and expertise, its cost-efficiency compared to other alternatives and the country’s regional leadership in the international arena were said to be effective during the evaluation. According to the results of the analysis conducted in line with the data acquired from program partner countries and their industries, Turkey will deserve to become the very first center to provide heavy maintenance and repair services to the JSF aircrafts of all the users in the European Region when established in 2018. The engine production and maintenance center will be founded in Eskişehir and three years following the establishment of this capacity in Turkey together with the launching of the facilities in Norway and Netherlands, all these centers are planned to be evaluated in every five years. During this period of tough competition between Turkey, Netherlands and Norway, Turkey is expected to enjoy the advantage of starting ahead of the rest. According to the analyses, Turkey will have the advantage to provide depot level maintenance to at least 100 engines per year, starting from 2024.
The JSF Program executed by the US JSF Program Office (JPO) consists of the design, development, production and logistics support of the F-35 aircrafts with international participation. The Program is being conducted for meeting the new generation combat aircraft (F-35) requirements of USA’s program partners (UK, Italy, Netherlands, Canada, Australia, Denmark, Norway and Turkey) and other FMS countries. Turkey first participated in the program by attending the concept demonstration phase of the project in 1999 and then participated in the System Development and Demonstration (SDD) and Production, Support and Further Development (PSFD) phases in 2002 and 2007 respectively. Within the scope of the Program, Turkey is expected to procure 100 aircrafts. The first two orders given last year are expected to be received in 2018.
