Sunday, April 19, 2009

South Korea To Buy Turkish EWTS

South Korea To Buy Turkish EWTS
(NSI News Source Info) SEOUL - April 19, 2009: South Korea signed a deal April 16 to purchase Turkish pilot training equipment in a deal valued at about 13 billion won ($97 million), the Ministry of National Defense here said. A signing ceremony, attended by the defense ministers from both countries, was held at the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) headquarters, it said in a news release. South Korea will receive electronic warfare training systems (EWTS) from Turkish defense firm Havelsan by 2011, it said. DAPA started talks on the deal with Havelsan last September as part of "reciprocal" defense cooperation between the two governments, it said. EWTS is used to train and test Air Force pilots by simulating hostile threat environments, including missile interceptors, ground-to-air guided rockets, anti-aircraft guns and others. Later in the day, Turkish Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul, who arrived here a day earlier for a three-day stay, held talks with his South Korean counterpart, Lee Sang-hee, on bilateral defense ties and expanding cooperation in the defense industry. Seoul and Istanbul have maintained strong ties on arms deals. In 2001, South Korea signed a $1 billion license deal over its K-9 self-propelled howitzer with Turkey. In 2007, South Korea's state-run Korea Aerospace Industries signed a $350 million contract with Turkey to export 55 modified KT-1 Woongbi basic trainers. Last year, the two governments inked a $400 million contract on the transfer of tank development technology. Under the deal, South Korea is to help Turkey develop a main battle tank by 2015 through the transfer of its technologies accumulated from the design and development of K1A1 and K2 tanks. South Korea will provide key technologies regarding engine, gunnery and snorkeling systems, according to DAPA officials.

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