Turkey has opened a competition for 52 general-purpose helicopters for armed forces and forest ministry applications. Turkey’s defence industries undersecretariat says the army and navy will receive 20 and six general-purpose aircraft respectively and the air force six for combat search-and-rescue duties. The forest ministry will meanwhile receive 20 firefighting helicopters. Responses are anticipated by 5 December, with Ankara for the first time not requesting that the aircraft be jointly produced in Turkey. The country announced earlier this year plans to resurrect a competition to acquire 50 attack helicopters, after cancelling a deal for 145 Bell AH-1Z SuperCobras.

Source: Flight International