ANKARA, Turkey, Feb. 17 (UPI) -- Turkey is set to receive an additional S-70 Seahawk combat helicopter for its navy in a compensation move by a U.S. aircraft manufacturer that has delayed delivery of a batch of such platforms.
The U.S. company concerns Sikorsky Aircraft had committed to the delivery of 17 S-70 Seahawk naval helicopters beginning in 2009 but was unable to do so because of production problems.
As a result Turkey first took delivery of such platforms in late 2010.
The deal spawns from a $550 million agreement signed by Turkey's procurement agency, the Turkish defense officials and Sikorsky in 2006 for the sale of 17 Seahawks.
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"In defense contracts there is a provision for a penalty of, say, some 5 percent or 8 percent of the contract value in case of deliveries starting after a certain amount of time beyond the nominal delivery date," said a Turkish procurement official, the Defense News Web site reported.
"In such cases, the companies usually prefer to pay in terms of logistics and maintenance assistance or in spare parts. But in this case, we requested one more full S-70B platform and the company accepted this," said the official. "So we will get 18 Seahawks instead of 17."
Bent on boosting its thriving defense industry, Turkey had $1.5 billion in related exports in 2010, a record for the country, compared to the $832 million in exports in 2009.
Sikorsky is in competition with Italy's AgustaWestland for nearly a nearly $4 billion Turkish program geared toward the "joint production with local partners of a first batch of 109 utility helicopters for the country's military and security forces," Defense News reported.
The government in Ankara is to announce its pick next month.
Turkey has purchased an additional eight S-70B Seahawks -- an international derivative of the U.S. Navy SH-60B combat helicopter -- from Sikorsky.
More than 100 S-70 utility helicopters have been sold by Sikorsky to Turkey in previous years.
The Seahawks' mission package includes "dipping sonar, electronic surveillance measures, multi-mode radar, aircraft survivability equipment, and Penguin and Hellfire missiles. Multi-mission capable, the S-70B can also perform search and rescue, medical evacuation, surveillance, vertical replenishment and utility missions," Defense News reported.
Sikorsky is also said to have pitched the sale of $1.3 billion worth of Turkish-made helicopter parts, also proposing the regional set of a Black Hawk base in Turkey.
