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Mike
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06.06.2000 21:13:00
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Рубрики
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Прочее;
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The Turkish Land Forces Receive First Cougar Helicopter from the TAI Production Line
http://www.defense-aerospace.com/data/communiques/data/2000Jun2468/index.htm
The Turkish Land Forces Receive First
Cougar Helicopter from the TAI Production Line
(Source : Eurocopter ; dated May 31, issued June 2, 2000)
Mr. Sabahattin Cakmakoglu, the Turkish Minister of Defense was present at TAI when Mr. Kaya Ergenз, Chairman of the TAI Management Board and Mr. Jean-Franзois Bigay, Chairman of the Eurocopter Group Supervisory Board, officially handed over to General Attila Ates, Commander of the Turkish Land Forces, the keys to the first AS 532 UL Cougar out from the Turkish production line
It was in Ankara, in 1997, that a contract worth approximately 450 MUS$ was signed by the Turkish government for the acquisition of 30 Cougar MK1 helicopters, together with an agreement for these helicopters to be built in Turkey, and for the creation of a consortium between Eurocopter and TAI (Tusas Aerospace Industries Inc.), called EUROTAI.
This contract, known as PHENIX 2, covers the supply of 10 Cougar helicopters that will be allocated to the Turkish Land Forces, to be added to the first 20 units delivered in the frame of 1993 contract, and of 20 helicopters for the Turkish Air Force Search and Rescue (SAR) and Combat SAR missions.
This first Cougar to leave the TAI assembly line is a utility / troop lift helicopter and it will be followed by 5 identical aircraft that will be delivered to the Turkish Land Forces, at the rate of one helicopter every two months. The remaining 22 helicopters, that include SAR and Combat SAR equipped units, will then be delivered at a rate of one per month, deliveries being completed in February 2003.
Within the framework of the EUROTAI consortium, TAI is responsible for manufacturing and building the airframe, assembling the helicopters and performing the acceptance tests.
A number of Eurocopter equipment manufacturers and partner companies are also associated with the Turkish companies.
It should be pointed out that Eurocopter and TAI have also signed a regional joint marketing agreement that will empower the Turkish industry to market and sell the Cougar helicopter.
Another noteworthy point is that the Cougar family of helicopters has already gained the confidence of 29 Air Forces, 7 Armies and 5 Navies throughout the world in the frame of an extremely wide and varied range of versions. (ends)
The Eurocopter - TAI Consortium (EUROTAI) :
Backbone of the Helicopter Industry in Turkey
(Source : Eurocopter ; dated May 31, Web-posted June 2, 2000)
It was in February 1997 that the decision was made to set up the complete manufacture of Cougar helicopters in Turkey with the participation of the national industry at the design and development stages as well as in the qualification, purchasing, production, assembly and flight test phases.
The contract included a fully innovative organization consisting of the consortium EUROTAI. This provides the customer, SSM, with close control and visibility over project performance, and the Turkish industry with a level of maturity comparable to that of the initial manufacturer. The responsibility of "Consortium Leader" that has been ensured by Eurocopter for the last three years, will be taken over by TAI from July 2000.
The delivery of this first helicopter demonstrates the industrial and technological maturity acquired by TAI and its Turkish partners such as ASELSAN, for several key avionics within systems, ASPILSAN, for batteries, NETAS, for the IFF transponder, KALEKALIP, for the radar antenna, etc.
TAI are now producing all the Turkish-made components that will progressively supply the production line, where twelve helicopters are already being assembled.
This cooperation has necessitated considerable knowledge and technology transfer. Two years were devoted to this transfer in the different specialties of the helicopter including systems integration. A small group of top-level engineers and a helicopter crew benefited from this transfer and they are now tasked with completing the transfer at the TAI facilities.
We must emphasize the exceptional effort made on both sides as regards the technology transfer and also industrial investment. For example, TAI has devoted 400,000 hours to the manufacture of tooling. Hence, it is now essential that both partners take advantage from this incomparable investment and from this know-how in order to develop a profitable business through the contracts based on the "joint marketing agreement" between Eurocopter and TAI, both in Turkey and in other countries in the area.
In addition to fulfilling the needs of the Land and Air Forces, the Cougar helicopters leaving the Turkish production line will be able to cover all the regional requirements in missions such as : combat SAR, anti-ship strikes, anti-submarine warfare, electronic warfare, tactical lift operations, utility work, forest fire fighting, medevac operations, law-enforcement missions and VIP transport.
-ends-