TURKEY TO BUY RUSSIAN NIGHT HUNTERS

AZG Armenian Daily
19/06/2009

International

A Turkish military delegation has come to Russia to discuss the
possible acquisition of Mi-28 attack helicopters. This is not the
first time the two countries have discussed cooperation, RIA Novosti
military commentator Ilya Kramnik reported.

In the 1970s and the early 1980s, Turkey bought 32 used AH-1P/S Cobra
attack helicopters in the United States and later upgraded them to
the AH-1F specifications. The Turkish army still has 23 AH-1P/S Cobras.

However, Turkish military authorities started thinking about replacing
them in the mid-1990s.

During the subsequent tender they considered several models of combat
helicopter, including the Ka-50-2 Erdogan, a version of the Russian
Ka-50 Black Shark developed by Russia and Israel for Turkey. Unlike
the Ka-50 where the pilots sit side-by-side, the seats in the Erdogan
are placed in tandem as in the U.S. Cobra chopper.

However, Turkey did not choose the Kamov helicopter for political
reasons, such as growing U.S. influence in Turkey and, conversely,
the lack of Russian influence. Also, Russia could not then guarantee
the timely production of the required number of new helicopters or
post-sale service. Lastly, the Ka-50 was not mass-produced even for
the Russian army at that time.

An updated Cobra with new weapons and equipment was the most probable
winner in the Turkish tender, but the contract was eventually
awarded to a European producer, the Anglo-Italian AgustaWestland,
which proudly proclaims to be "a total rotorcraft capability provider."

AgustaWestland, announced as the winning bidder in March 2007, pledged
to assemble 50 T129 prototypes in Turkey. However, the first T129
will be rolled out only in 2015, whereas Turkey needs choppers now
to fight Kurdish militants.

The purchase of seven used AH-1W SuperCobras in 2008 has not solved
the problem either. Turkey needs modern attack helicopters to fill
the gap until 2015 and for several more years while its pilots learn
to fly the T129 choppers.

As a result, Turkey has decided to purchase Russian machines. It
has opted for the Mi-28N Night Hunter, which, unlike the Ka-50, has
been mass-produced since the 1990s and is supplied to the Russian
Armed Forces.

Turkey may buy between 12 and 32 helicopters within two or three years.

It is unclear if it wants the choppers with or without top-mounted
radar, which is an extremely expensive option.

The Turkish military had once considered buying the Mi-24 Crocodile,
which has several common structural elements with the Mi-28. The
Mi-17 multirole helicopter is currently used in Turkey for military,
police and civilian purposes.

Significantly, the Mil helicopters have for years been used in similar
terrain in the Caucasus, Central Asia and the Middle East. Moreover,
Russia’s influence and relations with Turkey have grown dramatically
and many contradictions in bilateral ties have been smoothed over
since the 1990s.

Therefore, Turkey could buy the Mi-28, whose track record over the
past 20 years and the initial results of its combat use show that
this highly versatile helicopter could remain on combat duty even
after T129 assembly start-up in Turkey.

And the final touch: the protection and combat payload specifications
of the T129 are below those of the Mi-28.

The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s and do not
necessarily represent those of RIA Novosti.