Turkey formally decides to buy US made F-35 fighters for Army Air Forces, new helicopters for police forces, which will fight terrorism by assuming a larger role.

Ankara / NationalTurk – Turkey will purchase two F-35 fighter jets for the Military and 15 helicopters for police forces from the US, a government committee has declared. Turkey, a member of the international F-35 consortium has officially decided to purchase Lockheed Martin’s F-35 fignter jets.The purchase comes as part of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Programme, an internationally oriented programme consisting of Turkey’s partnerships with a number of countries. Turkey signed a memorandum of understanding in 2007 on its involvement in the production of new generation F-35 warplanes. The top decisive body of Turkish defense has also chosen Bell Helicopter as the next generation light copter for police

Turkey joined F-35 users group : Lockheed Martin liked it

Turkey’s top decision-making body The Defence Industry Implementation Committee, yesterday paved the way Turkey’s formal participation in a U.S.-led program for the production of next-generation F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Lightning II fighter aircraft. The next-generation fighter jets will be delivered in 2015

SSM and Lockheed Martin, the plane’s main manufacturer, now are expected to sign a formal document for the sale of the first two aircraft. This decision enables Turkey to begin the reception of the aircraft in 2015. Turkey is a member of the F-35 consortium but earlier had not been committed officially to buy the aircraft. It plans to operate around 100 aircraft eventually.

Other members of the consortium include the U.S., Britain, Italy, the Netherlands, Australia, Canada, Norway and Denmark. But there are other countries that would buy the aircraft that are not members of the consortium, including Israel. A recent decision by Japan to buy the F-35 has been a major boost for this aircraft program. Japan and Israel are expected to receive deliveries in 2016.

Textron copters for Turkish police to hunt down Kurdish terrorists

The committee also has chosen the U.S. Bell Helicopter Textron as the main producer of the Turkish police force’s next light helicopter type.

The committee’s decision came at a time when the Turkish police prepare to assume a larger role in the fight against the terrorists of outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). The Security Directorate will buy up to 15 light helicopters in a first batch to enhance the force’s capabilities.

 Turkish Aerospace Industries : Serial production of unmanned drones

Bell was competing against Italy’s AgustaWestland and Eurocopter Deutschland, the European Eurocopter’s German arm. Bell later is expected to manufacture more light helicopters for the Turkish police force in follow-up batches. The company also is expected to cooperate in the production with the Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI), Turkey’s state-owned aerospace company.

The Turkish Security Directorate’s present helicopter fleet is made up of mainly U.S.-made MD600 light helicopters, which are getting outdated and more difficult to operate. The new helicopters should better perform police tasks, including tracking suspected criminals and intervening in incidents that could erupt during mass demonstrations, industry sources said.

The committee also decided that SSM would buy 10 Anka unmanned aerial vehicles from TAI. After the first three tests of the vehicle ended with crash-landings, the final three flight tests held recently were successful. TAI already would have delivered three Ankas to the military this year, but the committee’s decision paves the way for the serial production of the 10 units of drones.

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