Posted on 04/19/2005 6:32:43 AM PDT by Turk2
Turkey to buy $200m. of Israeli UAVs
Culminating over six years of negotiations, Turkey is finally signing a $200 million deal on Monday to purchase a network of Israeli unmanned aerial vehicles and ground stations.
Turkey's Defense Ministry chose the Israel Aircraft Industries' Heron drone and Elbit System's ground stations over the US General Atomics Aeronautical System's Predator.
The Heron is a multi-role drone used for surveillance and reconnaissance missions. The deal involves some 10 ground stations, each one with three or four UAVs. TheTurkish army, navy and air forces are all to use them.
According to industry sources, a Turkish aerospace subsidiary TUSAS will be the Turkish partner with Elbit Systems and Israel Aircraft Industries splitting some 75 percent of the deal.
The deal was to have been announced during next month's visit to Israel by Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan. But media leaks in Ankara revealed the signing of the contract Monday.
The Heron is manufactured by IAI's Malat Division, which says it has a range of 1,000 kilometers and can carry a 250-kilogram payload.
With a 16-meter wingspan, the Heron can fly for up to 52 hours of continuous flight and reach an altitude of 30,000 feet, according to IAI. The Heron is a long-endurance system meant to provide real-time strategic intelligence. The fourth-generation platform, with new fully automatic take-off and landing features, provides deep-penetration, wide-area, real-time intelligence.
Among other international customers for the Heron is India.
IAI has in the past sold Turkey Harpy killer drones. Elbit and IAI have also cooperated in the past on a number of defense deals including the upgrade of Turkey's F-4 fighter jets.
The Heron, an Israeli-made UAV
Photo: Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI)
Israel selling UAVs to a country that is strengthening relations with Syria, thier enemy. What is the Israel officials thinking about? Just making money?
Turkey and Israel have been close friends for many, many years.
In the past, Turkiye has been no friend of Syria, primarily because Syria was financing and arming Kurds in Northern Iraq as a counter to Turkiye's Southeastern Anatolia Project, a series of 22 dams and 19 hydroelectric stations built on the Euphrates and Tigris rivers. When completed Turkiye will control the water tap for a good portion of the mid-east.
Syria is a neighbour Turkey has threatened with war just 5 years ago. Turkey is one of the first countries in the world to recognize the state of Israel.
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