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ANKARA: Italy's Agusta Westland, owned by Finmeccanica SpA, on Friday won a tender worth $2.7 billion to supply NATO member Turkey with combat helicopters under Ankara's ambitious military modernisation programme.
Turkish Defence Minister Vecdi Gonul told reporters the project envisaged the initial purchase of 50 ATAK helicopters but stressed they would be produced in Turkey.
“In the ATAK project, the main contractor will be Turkish Aerospace Industries and the Italians will the sub-contractors. This means the helicopters will be produced in Turkey and will be called the T-129,” Gonul said.
An Italian source close to the deal told Reuters in Rome the total number of helicopters sold under the deal could eventually reach 90 or more. The initial part of the agreement is valued at $1.2 billion, the source said.
Last December, Gonul said Turkey reduced its shortlist of firms in the helicopter tender to two, Italy's Finmeccanica and South African state company Denel, but said further technical tests were required before a decision could be made.
He said on Friday Turkey's Defence Industry Executive Committee had awarded the deal to the Italians on price grounds.
Gonul also announced that the government would begin talks with Otokar, a unit of Turkish conglomerate Koc Holding, on a $500 million project to build battle tanks.
Turkey has the second largest military in NATO after the United States and has an annual procumrement budget of more than $4 billion.
In its biggest ever procurement project, Turkey signed with the United States a memorandum of understanding in January to buy 100 F-35 fighter jets worth nearly $10.7 billion over the next 15 years under a programme led by Lockheed Martin.
The United States is traditionally Turkey's biggest arms supplier.
