A senior Turkish official has said lingering talks with the United States for the procurement of Patriot air defense systems have not been matured while citing progress on ongoing cooperation with France and Italy’s Eurosam on the SAMP/T systems.
İsmail Demir, the head of Turkey’s Defense Industry Presidency, provided updated information about the government’s talks with the suppliers of air defense systems Turkey is planning to procure in the coming period, including the Russian S-400s, the American Patriots and French-Italian consortium’s SAMP/T, in an interview with the private broadcaster, NTV on June 8.
Defending the Turkish airspace requires a layered air defense system with the use of multiple weapons, including home-made Korkut and Hisar systems which are in a process of making, Demir said.
“We had said that we are open up to the offers by Patriot and Eurosam. We had told that we’d like to continue to work on these projects if there would be concrete proposals. [The process on] Patriots have not been matured,” he informed.
Turkey has long been conveying the message that it’s ready to purchase Patriots systems to the U.S. administration under certain conditions that include technology transfer and joint production.
On the work with French-Italian consortium of Eurosam for the joint production of SAMP/T air defense systems, Demir said, informing “Generally, this is about producing a joint system by Turkey, Italy and France. Turkey is about to accomplish its own work. We will hit the road after the other two countries complete their work.”
Turkey and Eurosam had agreed to work on what they called a definition study of the future Turkish Long Range Air and Missile Defense System in 2017. The definition study aims at preparing the development and production contract for the future system meeting the operational requirements of the Turkish Air Force.
Turkey will use S-400s
When asked whether Turkey will activate the S-400s or keep them unboxed at a hangar in order to avoid the U.S. sanctions as suggested by many analysts, Demir said that Turkey has procured the Russian “to use them.”
The activation process of the systems has delayed due to the novel coronavirus but works to activate them are underway, he stated, “Let’s call it the second stage. This project contains certain aspects of production and technology. We are working on these.”
On the procurement of the second batch of the S-400s, the head of the defense industry recalled that Turkey and Russia agreed in principle to this end but there is a need for a detailed study on technology transfer, details on the joint production and the road map to be followed.
“Our gains (over the procurement of the S-400s) are more than important than asking whether there will be a second batch. It’s not possible for Turkey to meet all its air defense needs with the S-400s.
F-35 project should continue
Demir, in an article he penned for the magazine “Kriter” published by the SETA think tank, recalled Turkey’s call for the continuation of its partnership over the F-35 joint fighter project. Turkey was removed from the project last year after it deployed the S-400s air defense systems from Russia.
“This is a project with nine partners. A decision taken by only one partner is neither legal nor rational,” Demir said, stressing Turkey can apply for legal action.
Turkey’s exclusion from the project has multiplied the cost of the production of the F-35s, he informed, underscoring that Turkey and the Turkish companies who are part of the production chain have always been loyal to the project.
