Report: Israel to renew spy plane deal with Turkey
Decision would unfreeze first arms deal between the sides since Gaza
flotilla rift.
By Haaretz Staff Nov.11, 2012 | 2:40 AM |
Visitors queue up in front of a NATO Airborne Warning and Control
Systems aircraft (AWACS) to have a look inside a Boeing 747-8 aircraft
(not pictured) during the ILA Berlin Air Show, Sept.11, 2012. Photo by
Reuters
Elta, a subsidiary of Israel Aerospace Industries, has agreed to
resume the production of the airborne warning and control systems for
Turkish spy planes, the Turkish newspaper Hurriyet reported on Friday.
According to the report, this would allow the long-delayed transfer of
four Boeing 737 AWACS planes, that were built for a total of $1.6
billion, to be completed. More importantly, the decision, which would
have to be approved by the Defense Ministry, may indicate that the
government is softening its stance on defense exports to Turkey, the
report said.
Turkey had ordered the 737-700 AWACs plane from Boeing in 2002, and
Elta had committed to equip them with early warning systems for about
$100 million.
Elta is the only producer of such systems for the Boeing 737. The four
planes were to be delivered in 2006, but the systems integration took
longer than expected, and only two were delivered before the
deterioration in Turkish-Israeli relations began.
After the rift with Turkey erupted following the Israeli raid on the
Gaza-bound Mavi Marmara in May 2010, the Defense Ministry forbade
Israel’s defense industries to export products to Turkey, going so far
as to cancel contracts that had been signed with Turkey by Elbit and
IAI.
However, because the AWACS contract involved Boeing, it was only
suspended, not canceled. According to the Hurriyet report, the Elta
decision followed Boeing’s efforts to urge the Israeli company to
complete the production of the systems for Turkey. The newspaper
Defense News, reporting in March on the issue, quoted an Elta
spokesman as saying that Boeing and Elta were making efforts to
complete delivery of the systems.
According to foreign reports, these early-warning systems are designed
to detect aircraft, ships and vehicles at long ranges. The radars on
the aircraft allow operators to distinguish between friendly and
hostile aircraft from a distance of thousands of kilometers, and aid
in managing air and ground operations.
From: A. Papazian