Posted on 07/22/2006 9:51:47 AM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
Turkey Requests New Bid from Eurofighter
By Ibrahim TUrkmen, London
Published: Friday, July 21, 2006
zaman.com
The Turkish Air Force requested a new bid from Eurofighter as part of efforts to strengthen its forces by replacing its planes with a new generation of jet fighters.
In response to the Turkish Ministry of Defense’s decision to increase the number of jet fighters it will purchase, Eurofighter’s producer, Aeronautica, began to prepare lower prices for the tender.
The company will also issue a response to Turkey regarding its demands for partnership, technology transfers, and industrial participation.
Authorities evaluate Turkey’s new demand about technology transfers from Eurofighter, which is the competitor of American Boeing and Lockheed Martin, two companies that are opposed to any technology transfers, as an important development.
If both parties reach an agreement, Turkey will become one of the production bases of Eurofighter jet planes and a full partner of Aeronautica along with Italy, England, Spain and Germany.
Aeronautica CEO Giovanni Bertolone emphasized if the agreement is signed, Turkey will have access to all the source codes of Eurofighter. Turkey will also have the ability to make changes in design and in production phases of the plane in accordance with its needs, just as other partners using “System Design Responsibility.”
Bertolone spoke with Turkish journalists during the Farnborough International Airshow in England’s capital London, and emphasized Eurofighter is not just an industrial project.
Bertolone defined the cooperation as having three aspects: Political, military and industrial.
“We see Turkey as the most appropriate candidate country for cooperation in all three of these aspects, and will make our offer accordingly,” Bertolone said.
This statement means that Turkey will not only have the chance to transfer technology with the world’s best selling multi-purpose new generation jet fighters, but will also be able to fly its own planes independently and without restrictions.
Bertolone further said Turkey far exceeds the countries in its region considering its Air Force power and rapidly developing economy, and should only be compared to countries like England and Italy.
The Aeronautica CEO said the United States will use F-35s, also known as Joint Strike Fighters (JSF), combined with the dominant F-22 in its air force to provide maximum air to air and air to land efficiency.
Consequently, Bertolone advised Turkey to use two platforms, JSF and Eurofighter, simultaneously.
The JFS’s constitute an important place in the Turkish Ministry of Defense’s modernization project for the Turkish Air Force.
Authorities estimate that if Turkey orders JSF’s as early as today, the planes will not be delivered until 2014; however, the Eurofighters will be fully operational in three years time.
Constantino Panvini Rosati , head of Eurofighter's Turkey Campaign, said Turkey should evaluate both platforms, from air to air and from air to land, in the frame of empowering its air forces.
Europe Outdates US with Typhoon
The double-engine Eurofighter Typhoon is designed to be able to take off and land on shorter runways, in addition to their high maneuverability capacity. Authorities asset that the European aviation industry has surpassed the American aviation industry for the first time with the “aveonics” system on Eurofighter.
Turkey needs 120 Eurofighters to fully control its air space.
I disagree with the EF manuveuring. The American pilot that flew both said the EF is great for a 4th gen plane but can not compete with the F-22. I think he said it was like driving a sports car(EF) vs a formula 1(F-22).
He might be even true... turning is not the whole story and a g-suit doesn't make the plane roll faster or accellerate better - and then again what else should he say.
granted
Well we have american pilots flying British EF's and British pilots flying F-22's. We have an exchange program where we swap pilots to fly in each other sqaudrons. The british pilot was amazed at the F-22 compared to other planes. I know the EF is a good plane(its either the 2nd or 3rd best probably)but if I go to war with Russia or China I want to be flying the F-22 or F-35 over the EF or the F-15. They are the only airframes that have constantly demostrated the ability to defeat a numerically superior enemy.Germany should buy some F-35's to add to your EF sqaudron's. It will give you unique and more flexiable abilities. The human body can only sustain around 9-10 G's for an extended amount of time and this is with a G suit. Sure some folks can handle more G because of body type but BVR missiles and advanced radar are the future along with UAV's.
Thes programms are inter-NATO. I know some german pilots going to the US very frequently. Before Iraq some Apache trainigs missions where held over here practicing to evade or destroy the iraqi roland systems (sold to them by the french) - result - Roland didn't see it coming.
Certainly the EF has to blend into western alliances concepts. In England and Germany it will play the role of the F-22. F-35 cannot replace the EF in this task.
The G suit is a necessary tool to limit the amout of blood dropping into the feet while in a positive G manouvre. Every fighter pilots is equipped with one and + 7 gs is the approximat maximum for an extended period of time (longer than a second) individual differences may make that vary but that's what many F-18s and 16s are limited to electronically.
The 'libelle'(dragonfly) suit gets 30% more out of the pilots because it limits bloodflow to the legs and abdomen faster then a pneumatic system - plus it's less heavy and more comfortable to wear - it makes EF de facto a 10G plane.
But I guess that will be purchased by the US as soon as it's licensed.
Jedi Master Pikachu, the difference between the Greeks and the Turks is as an American political counselor of the US embassy in Athens is quoted in saying:"Greeks like inflammatory rhetoric from their politicians but responsible behavior from their governments."; in other words talk is cheap and actions speak louder then words. No matter what rhetoric you mith hear coming out of Greece, in the end when it really matters, unlike Turkey, their actions speak louder then their words. They have allied with the US in every major modern conflict including Iraq. In the present war against Iraq, thanks to the Greek government's blanket flight clearances and concessions on security issues, the crucial Mediterranean port and airfield of Souda Bay in Crete quietly handled thousands of US military flights and hundreds of ships en route to the Gulf. Greek military officers, eagerly offered their support to the US since the start of the war in the campaign against terrorism, were they were cool but correct in maintaining the flow of troops and equipment. Ankara on the other hand denied for US armored division to move through Turkey to northern Iraq and lets not forget the incident in Northern Iraq were US troops arrested Turkish military men for endangering American military operations in Nothern Iraq when they(Turkey) entered illegaly.
"Greece was one of only a handful of countries that fought alongside the United States in every major 20th century war." George W. Bush ~ 43rd
To be more specific, Greece is one of only three nations in the world, beyond the former British Empire, that has been allied with the United States in every major international conflict in the 20th/21st centuries, including World War I, World War II, Korean War, Vietnam War, Desert Storm, the Balkans, Afgan and Iraq.
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