Topic: Turkey unlikely to get US attack helicopters

rock45

Turkey unlikely to get US attack helicopters


Friday, March 28, 2008

Super Cobra helicopter gunships sought by the Turkish army are in short supply in the US

ÜMİT ENGİNSOY
WASHINGTON - Turkish Daily News

In an effort to boost operational capabilities in the fight against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), Turkey asked the U.S. government late December if it could sell to the Turkish army in the short term up to 12 Cobra-type attack helicopters already being used by the U.S. military.
However, sources now say that this kind of transfer is unlikely because these helicopters remain in short supply even for the U.S. military.
Turkey last year signed a multibillion-dollar deal with the Italian-British AgustaWestland for joint production of at least 30 attack helicopters, Turkishversions of the A129 Mangusta International. But even in the best of cases, those platforms will not be ready for delivery before 2013.
As a stop-gap solution, Turkish officials then decided to ask the United States if it had some available Cobra attack helicopters.
The Turkish army already operates more than 25 choppers from the Cobra family, some of them AH-1W Super Cobras and the rest earlier H and P models.Turkey acquired those choppers from the United States in the 1990s.
Bell Helicopter Textron produces these attack helicopters mainly for the U.S. Marine Command.

Link
http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/a...enewsid=100205