(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 Defenses decision to increase the number of jet fighters it will purchase, Eurofighters producer, Aeronautica, began to prepare lower prices for the tender, reports Trend.
The company will also issue a response to Turkey regarding its demands for partnership, technology transfers, and industrial participation.
Authorities evaluate Turkeys 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 Englands 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 worlds 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 JFSs constitute an important place in the Turkish Ministry of Defenses modernization project for the Turkish Air Force.
Authorities estimate that if Turkey orders JSFs 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.