Turkish missile deal ‘almost done’: Chinese company

Cengizhan Çatal DOHA / Hürriyet

Chinese firm China Precision Machinery Export-Import Corp. (CPMIEC) has made its first public statement on Turkey’s $3.4 billion long-range air and missile defense system, claiming that the finalization of the tender “is almost done.”

Wu Yang, the coordinator of the project, spoke at DIMDEX 2014 International Maritime Defence Exhibition in Doha, saying: “It’s almost done. We are also approaching the end in the evaluation of Turkey’s requests.”

In September 2013, NATO member Turkey chose CPMIEC, a firm that has been sanctioned by Washington, to co-produce the system, rejecting rival bids from Russian, United States, French and Italian firms.

With its provisional decision, Ankara approved the lowest offer despite worries about the Chinese system’s ultimate compatibility with NATO-owned early warning assets.

Following reactions from the West, Turkey had extended the deadline for missile system tender offers by three more months despite provisionally awarding the deal to China.

NATO and the United States have repeatedly conveyed to Ankara that a Chinese missile defense system will not be interoperable with NATO systems, even as Turkey has claimed that the proposed system will be compatible with existing systems.

CPMIEC placed the lowest bid of $3.44 billion for the tender, while offering the transfer of design technology and joint production.