IDEF 2009: Turkey, Germany to cooperate in defense

Turkey and Germany today will sign an agreement over cooperation in defense equipment research, development, production, procurement, support in training and industrial cooperation on the sidelines of the IDEF'09 in İstanbul. The agreement will lay the groundwork for a strategic partnership between the two countries in the defense industry, said a statement released by the German Embassy in Ankara on Thursday. Turkey's intention to forge cooperation with Germany in the production of strategic Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), which can fly at an altitude of over 30,000 feet and have a long range, has prompted Ankara to sign defense industry cooperation with Berlin. The EADS consortium of Germany and France is currently developing a strategic UAV. The agreement will also pave the way for Turkish-German cooperation in the production of standard jammers for the air force that prevent enemy radars from detecting F-16 fighter jets. However, the Undersecratariat for the Defense Industry (SSM), Turkey's main civilian procurement agency, is said to be in favor of cooperation with Germany on the acquisition of standard jammer systems while the Turkish Air Force Command has allegedly been opposing cooperation with Germany. In a separate development, Germany has refused to provide Turkey with the national software source codes of submarines with air-independent propulsion (AIP) systems. The SSM selected Germany's Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft (HDW) and Marine Force International (MFI) to provide its Type 214 (AIP submarines) craft in July 2008. Contract negotiations for the 2.5 billion euro program are continuing and the boats are to be built at Turkey's Gölcük naval shipyard, with the first boat to be delivered in 2015.

Posted in: IDEF 2009,Submarine,Turkey,UAV