Defense tender shows allies’ unwillingness to share
Turkey's decades-old NATO allies are comparatively uninterested in sharing their defense technology with the country, a fact revealed in statements made by top Turkish officials in response to criticism from these allies over Turkey's pick of a Chinese company following a tender for the joint building of a missile defense system for Turkey.
“China made the best bid. Moreover, China agreed to co-production [of the missile system]. Other countries said no to co-production,” Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on television at the beginning of the month in response to the criticism from the US and NATO.
Turkey announced at the end of September that it had selected the Chinese FD-2000 long-range missile defense system from the China Precision Machinery Import and Export Corp (CPMIEC) in a tender in which firms from the US, EU countries, Turkey's allies in NATO and even a Russian firm also bid. The Chinese company not only agreed to a much lower price, but also to a generous sharing of technology, a condition Turkey, aiming to lessen its dependence on imports in the defense industry, had sought as part of the tender. The sharing of technology is also key to the country's plans to develop its own long-range missile defense system in the future.
Elaborating on the importance of this sharing of technology for Turkey, Erdoğan added: “We need to eliminate our deficiencies in this area. If we do, our deterrence capabilities will increase.”
Turkey based its selection in the tender on three major criteria: the sharing of technology, that is, co-production of the system in Turkey; the ability of the proposed system to meet Turkey's operational needs; and price. In addition to agreeing to co-production, the Chinese firm offered the best cost: around $3 billion. Other firms' offers are believed to be at least $4 billion, if not higher, with much less or even no sharing of technology.
US and NATO officials have repeatedly expressed concern over Turkey's choice, maintaining that the Chinese missile defense system will not be interoperable with NATO's collective defense capabilities. The US is seemingly also bothered by the fact that the Chinese company awarded the tender is under US sanctions for violations of the Iran, North Korea and Syria Nonproliferation Act (INKSNA).
“We have conveyed our serious concerns about the Turkish government's contract discussions with a US-sanctioned company for a missile defense system that will not be inter-operable with NATO systems or collective defense capabilities,” Jen Psaki, spokesperson for the US Department of State, said at a press meeting at the beginning of October.
Other critical remarks were made by the head of NATO on Oct. 8. “What is important for us is that the system acquired by the individual country ... must be able to work and operate with the systems in other countries. I expect that Turkey will also comply with that,” NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told Reuters.
Although both the US and NATO have been trying to keep pressure on Turkey to change its mind, the Chinese offer is notably better than those of the other participants in the tender. “The local contribution [to the production of the missile system in the Chinese offer] will be more than 50 percent, including offset agreements,” Murad Bayar, head of the Undersecretariat for the Defense Industry (SSM), stated at a press briefing at the beginning of the month.
The US was seemingly not generous in terms of sharing technology as a partner in the F-16 fighter project Turkey launched at the end of the 1980s, either. Until recently, Turkey had continued to buy new versions of F-16s from the US. “We just did the assembly [in the F-16 project],” Erdoğan Karakuş, a retired three-star general in the Turkish Air Forces (THK), told Sunday's Zaman.
Seemingly in an effort to appease its NATO allies, Turkish officials have stated on a number of occasions that its announced selection was not final but only an indication that the Chinese firm had taken first place in the tender and would therefore be the first firm with which Turkey would launch negotiations on a final contract.
“All three missile defense systems on the shortlist would meet Turkey's needs, but the Chinese offer is comparatively much better [in terms of price and the sharing of technology],” Bayar confirmed at the briefing at SSM headquarters.
Apparently disappointed by the lack of interest of Turkey's NATO allies in sharing their know-how in defense technology, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said on a CNN Türk television program the previous week, “If our NATO allies would take these points into consideration, then there would be no problems.”
Dismissing claims that the choice for the Chinese systems also represents a change in Turkey's axis towards the East, Davutoğlu underlined the importance for Turkey to locally produce such systems, which explains why Turkey has been insistent on a substantial share for local companies in defense projects. “It's not possible to act independently for countries which haven't developed their own defense industry,” Davutoğlu said, also adding: “Turkey can no longer go on importing such systems.”
Bayar of the SSM made clear at the meeting that failure in negotiations for the drawing up of a final contract with the Chinese firm does not seem to be very likely. “Most probably, a contract will be signed with the first firm [on the shortlist],” Bayar said, while adding a cautious note: “But this is a sophisticated project. Problems may also arise.”
A total of four missile defense systems, which equals a total of 288 missiles in 12 firing units, will be obtained by the deal, through which the missiles will be jointly produced in Turkey thanks to the transfer of technology. Underlining the importance of the transfer of technology, Bayar said at the press meeting, “We will be locally producing almost the whole missile in the project.”
The Chinese offer is also the best on the delivery time front. All the four systems will be delivered to Turkey within four years of signing the contract. Bayar expects the process to be completed quite fast. “In the coming six months, the process [leading to the signing of the contract] may be completed [with the Chinese firm] and the project can get started,” the SSM head said.
Turkish officials dismissed comments that the Chinese system will not work in harmony with NATO radar in Turkey. “We don't have any misgivings regarding interoperability of the Chinese system with our joint operations in NATO,” Bayar said, affirming that the interoperability issue would be settled thanks to an integration server to be produced by a local company.
US and NATO objections, on the grounds of the interoperability problem, to Turkey opting for a Chinese missile defense system are not well founded, either, as Turkish officials have repeatedly emphasized that there will be no problems in that regard. Furthermore, as noted by Bayar, not only Greece, also a NATO member, but also some former Soviet-bloc countries which are present-day NATO members already have in place Russian missile defense systems such as the S-300.
The fact that the Chinese CPMIEC is under US sanctions is not a great issue for Turkey, as it concerns the US's own policy and is not something all countries need to respect as a binding measure. “This is not a NATO or UN criterion, not part of international law,” said Bayar, who underlined, to alleviate concerns in NATO, that no information about the alliance's defense systems would be communicated to China through Turkey's use of the Chinese missile system.
Should contract negotiations fail, Turkey would take on negotiations with the second company on the shortlist, Eurosam, an Italian-French consortium, which is in the game with the SAMP/T Aster 30. Raytheon and Lockheed Martin of the US were in third place in the tender with its Patriot missile system, while Russia's Rosoboronexport with its S-300 system was eliminated due to the very high price.
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Defense tender shows allies
