The Turkish Government has signed a contract for the purchase of 30 Eurocopter Cougar Mk1s, coupled with an agreement on local production.
The contract, worth Fr2.5 billion ($434 million), covers ten AS532-ULs for the Turkish army, complementing the 20 ordered at the end of 1993, plus 20 AS532-ALs for search and rescue (SAR) in both civil and combat environments, to be operated by the Turkish air force.
Eurocopter says that the contract paves the way for the creation of a consortium of Tusas Aerospace Industries (TAI) and Eurocopter, to be called EUROTAI. As part of this consortium, TAI will eventually take on airframe manufacture, assembly and acceptance testing of the helicopters.
Under the agreement, various Eurocopter subcontractors will also link with Turkish industry. The first two French-built Cougars will be delivered in 1999, with the remainder coming off TAI assembly lines from 1999 to 2002.
TAI, based in Ankara, is 51% state-owned, with the remainder belonging to Lockheed Martin. The company has also signed a joint marketing agreement with Eurocopter, covering Turkish zones of influence.
Eurocopter says that the latest agreement could allow Turkey "-to benefit also from the Tiger and NH90 programmes as part of future procurement deals".
Eurocopter Deutschland has taken delivery of two sets of cockpit and cabin floor armour from Armour of America for flight tests of a military derivative of the EC135 helicopter.
The first EC135 prototype (S01) will now be refitted and test flown in the military EC635 configuration. Flight testing is due to begin in mid-year. The EC635 is aimed at the light utility/scout /reconnaissance and SAR markets, and is being proposed to the South African Air Force to replace up to 50 ageing Alouette IIIs.
Source: Flight International
