Turkey in talks with Italian-French consortium Eurosam to purchase SAMP/T Aster 30 missile system 13108162

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Defence & Security News - Turkey
 
Turkey in talks with Italian-French consortium Eurosam to purchase SAMP/T Aster 30 missile system
According the Turkish newspaper website Daily Sabah, Turkey is in talks with the Italian-French consortium Eurosam to purchase the SAMP/T Aster 30, a long-range missile defense system. The SAMP/T is produced by Eurosam, a 50:50 joint venture between MBDA and Thales.
     
According the newspaper website Daily Sabah, Turkey is in talks with the Italian-French consortium Eurosam to purchase the SAMP/T Aster 30, a long-range missile defense system. The SAMP/T is produced by Eurosam, a 50:50 joint venture between MBDA and Thales.French army mobile launcher unit of SAMP/T surface-to-air defense missile system
     
According to information obtained by Daily Sabah, Turkey's military procurement agency, the under-secretariat for the Defense Industry (SSM) and National Defense Ministry have been continuing negotiations with Eurosam to purchase the SAMP/T Aster 30, which is already in use in several NATO member countries.

In 2009, Turkey has launched a request for a new air defense missile system. In September, 2013, Turkish reports came in that the China Precision Machinery Export-Import Corporation (CPMEIC)—on which the United States has imposed sanctions — had won a $4bn contract to help Turkey develop missile defense interceptors.

Turkey has chosen the Chinese Precision Machinery Import-Export Corporation (CPMIEC) FD-2000 (HQ-9) long-range air and missile defense system over American and European competitors, including the Italian-French Eurosam's SAMP/T Aster 30 system

In November 2015, Turkey canceled its $3.4 billion long-range missile defense system contract process, which was provisionally awarded to China in 2013 for the purchase of FD-2000 air defense missile system.

Turkish officials have also expressed interest for S-300 and the S-400 air defense missile defense systems from Russia. Turkey seemed to have shown a keen interest in the Russian S-300 during the International Defense Industry Fair IDEF, in May 2015.

In the initial bid, Eurosam SAMP/T came second while a U.S. partnership of Raytheon and Lockheed Martin Patriot came third.

Turkish defense companies Aselsan and Roketsan started a program to indigenously develop and produce short- and medium-altitude air defense systems in 2007, and in 2013 they completed the test launch of its first domestically developed and manufactured low-altitude air defense missile, Hisar-A, and set to work on Hisar-O, the medium-altitude system.

However Turkey is still not yet capable of producing long-range missile systems. Defense industry sources said the designing, developing and producing stages of the indigenous system could take up to 10 years.