Hopes To Have First Aircraft Flying In Five Years

The government of Turkey says it is launching a program to develop its own light utility helicopter in the under-12,000-pound category. The head of the program says that they expect to have an aircraft in the air within five years.

A report in the Hurriyet Daily News  indicates that the Turkish government will likely choose a foreign partner with marketing expertise to assist with the project. On its website, the Turkish Undersecretariat for Defense Industries (SSM) indicates that the county plans to build an aircraft "designed by Turkish engineers with customized sub-systems that can also compete on international markets." The agency says that the aircraft would be marketed first in Turkey, and then to international buyers.

A procurement official said that Turkey was capable of designing and producing the aircraft on its own, but that a foreign partner could bring marketing advantages. The head of the SSM, Koksal Liman, told the paper that as the ninth-largest helicopter market in the world, it was only natural that the country "boost that sector of our local industry."

FMI: http://defenceproducts.ssm.gov.tr