Posted on 07/22/2008 1:21:17 PM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
Turkey to negotiate with German joint venture for new submarines
Turkey decided to launch talks with German joint venture HDW-MFI to procure new type submarines for the Turkish Navy, Turkey's Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul said on Tuesday.
The board decided to start negotiations with Howaldswerke-Deutsche Werft GMBH and Marine Force International LLP (HDW-MFI) for the procurement which is estimated to cost about 2.5 billion euros ($3.9 billion), Gonul told reporters after a defence industry meeting chaired by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
HDW and its partner, Britain-based Marine Force International, will build the type-214 air-independent submarines at the Golcuk shipyard near Istanbul, Gonul also said.
Gonul said Turkish industrial participation in the project would be worth around 80 percent of the total value of the deal and around 20 of the systems and sub-systems of the submarines will be produced by Turkish industry, he said.
Two other companies -- DCNS of France and Spains Navantia SA -- had competed for the contract.
The first vessel is planned to be operational in 2015. A Turkish defence ministry official said around 15 percent of the project would be paid in advance, Reuters reported.
Turkey has the second biggest army in NATO after the United States and is currently modernising its military. It is expected to place large procurement orders in coming years.
Arming the future Islamic Caliphate.
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