Defense firms ink three Kazakh deals

ANKARA - Anatolia News Agency

Turkish defense industry products displayed at a defense fair in the Kazakhstan capital of Astana received great interest and managed to lead to three agreements being signed, including one between Turkey’s Otokar and Kazakhstan Engineering on the joint production of the “Cobra” wheeled armored vehicles.

Sixteen Turkish companies attended the “KADEX 2012 International Defense Fair” in Astana, said Lütfi Varoğlu, head of the International Cooperation Department at the Turkish Undersecretariat of Defense Industry (SSM).

Turkey and Russia had the largest number of participants at the defense fair of all the countries that attended, he said, according to Anatolia news agency.

The stands of Turkish defense companies received great interest, he also said.

Otokar and Kazakhstan Engineering signed an agreement for the joint production of “Kobra” armored vehicles, Varoğlu said.

BMC, the Turkish producer of both military and civil vehicles also signed a deal with V AVTO, its partner in Kazakhstan, for the sale of armored vehicles.

Aselsan, the leading electronics and electronic systems company of Turkey, will produce avionics systems and work with the integration of helicopters produced in Kazakhstan, according to a separate deal announced over the weekend. Kazakhstan Aselsan Engineering (KAE) and Eurocopter Kazakhstan Engineering signed a cooperation agreement on the integration of avionics equipment and systems in EC-145 helicopters, Aselsan said.