The first two Turkish air force McDonnell Douglas F-4s to be upgraded by Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) arrived at IAI's Lahav plant on 24 February.
The two aircraft will be prototypes for a $600 million project which will involve the modification of 54 aircraft. Thirty-two aircraft will be flown to Israel for the upgrade, with the remainder being modified at a Turkish air force base with kits provided by Israel.
The Lahav plant of IAI is the prime contractor, but several other leading Israeli aerospace companies are also included in the deal. These include Elbit, which has been charged with integrating the new avionics, Elta, which is to supply the EL/M 2032 multi-mode fire control radar, EL OP (wide- angle head-up display), and Elisra (electronic-warfare system).
Astronautics will supply the air-data computer ,Rafael is providing the Popeye stand-off missiles and Orbit is supplying the internal-communication system.
Israeli banks are financing the programme after the Government in Tel Aviv agreed to guarantee the $411 million loans they provided to the Turkish defence ministry.
A team lead by Singapore Aerospace with IAI and Elbit as subcontractors is now competing for the upgrade contract of the Turkish air force's F-5s.
Source: Flight International
