Turkey gets cold feet for HQ-9 missile deal with China

Pic http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Chinese_S-300_launcher.jpg

HQ-9s are paraded in the second half of the video below




Turkey’s defense procurement bureaucracy and industry are increasingly showing signs of developing cold feet over a potential $3.44 billion deal with a Chinese arms maker -China Precision Machinery Import-Export Corp (CPMIEC) - for the construction of the country’s first long-range air and anti-missile system.

Some of the Turkish companies that would be subcontracted for the air defense system program named T-LORAMIDS, are skeptical about potential corporate consequences because CPMIEC is on a U.S. list of companies that are sanctioned under the Iran, North Korea and Syria Nonproliferation Act.

Military electronics specialist Aselsan, Turkey’s biggest defense firm, has been designated as the program’s prime local subcontractor has become increasingly cautious about the partnership.Turkey has come under strong pressure from its NATO allies since it announced its decision over the T-LORAMIDS. Ankara said it had chosen CPMIEC’s FD-2000 missile-defense system over rival offers from Franco-Italian Eurosam SAMP/T and Raytheon of the United States. It said the decision was based on better price and better terms of technology transfer. 

US behind Turkey's purchase of Chinese HQ-9 long range surface to air missile system: Kanwa

The primary reason for Turkey, a major US ally and a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, to purchase the FN FS-2000, the export version of the Chinese HQ-9 long-range surface-to-air missile, was not to defend its airspace but to steal critical information regarding the missile for the United States, according to Kanwa Defense Review operated by Andrei Chang, a military analyst based in Canada, also known as Pinkov.

The government in Ankara also realizes how much pressure will be on them if they chose to purchase Chinese instead of American air defense systems.

Kanwa said that Turkey's new cross-harbor tunnel beneath the Bosphorus was completed with investment from Japan. As Japan is now a major advocate of Turkey's accession to the European Union, the report said it is impossible for it to become a security partner with China, which is engaged in a territorial dispute with Japan in the East China Sea.

As most of its weapons systems are from either the United States or other NATO powers, Turkey is unlikely to purchase Chinese missiles, Kanwa said, which is why Russia pulled its S-400 from the competition. Apparently, Turkey is trying to steal critical data from the HQ-9 for its allies through the purchase of the Chinese missile, following the example of South Korea when it previously did the same with the Russian-built Sukhoi Su-35 fighter.