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18 April 2014
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| http://www.nti.org/gsn/article/western-firms-said-push-turkish-entities-china-missile-contract/ |
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Western defense firms reportedly are threatening to cancel partnerships with Turkish companies if Ankara buys a Chinese antimissile system. In a Thursday report, informed sources told the Hurriyet Daily News that Eurosam and a Raytheon-Lockheed Martin team -- which were both passed over by Turkey last year for the lucrative missile-defense contract -- have been telling executives at Turkish defense companies that mutual "partnerships in certain fields will be over" if the deal is cemented with Beijing. Officials from the U.S. and European defense firms have been speaking with Turkish missile manufacturers, aerospace firms, military-software developers and defense-electronics companies, according to sources cited by the newspaper. Ankara has asked Eurosam and the Raytheon-Lockheed Martin partnership to enhance their proposals to provide the country with a national air- and missile-defense system, particularly in terms of allowing technology transfer and co-production with Turkish firms. The Western companies reportedly have said they are willing to do this, but have not matched the terms offered by China, according to Hurriyet. NATO opposes integration of Chinese-built systems into an
alliance missile shield, due to concerns about compatibility
and the possibility that Chinese developers might insert
digital backdoors that could allow access to sensitive military
data. |
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