Military Technology 04/2021

84 · MT 4/2021 Turkish Industry News Section Ministry of National Defence (MoND), seven A330 MRTT are expected to be delivered to the TurAF, replacing the STRATOTANKERs on a one-to- one basis. Our sources suggest the plan is to acquire the aircraft in a 2+5 mode, as part of Turkey’s higher business package demand. In the first phase, ASFAT will select seven aircraft with the lowest en- gine flight hours from the A330-200 airliners in the Turkish Airlines fleet, which currently operates 14 such aircraft with GE CF6-80E1 engines. When the first aircraft is ready for conversion (after preliminary work ex- pected to take six months to complete), and with Airbus technical support and relevant documentation, structural work is expected to be carried out at the 2nd Air Maintenance Factory Directorate (2nd AMFD). First Locally Retrofitted A400M to be Delivered to TurAF in July 2021 Under the A400M Aircraft Retrofit Contract signed between Airbus Defence & Space and ASFAT in 2019, retrofit of the first aircraft began in December 2020 at the 2nd AMFD – the authorised maintenance centre for the type. The work, which includes software and hardware upgrades, is expected to be completed in July, when preliminary work for the sec- ond aircraft is expected to commence. Following the retrofit process, the nine A400Ms in TurAF’s inventory are scheduled to reach Full Operational Level (FOL) by 2023/2024. The fleet’s claimed overall mission capable rate stands at 85%. Since the 10 th A400M ,to be delivered in January 2022, will already be to the latest configuration, it will not undergo the retrofit process. The work is being conducted in a newly-built 10,000m2 private aircraft hangar, featuring high-tech protection equipment; a second hangar is ex- pected to be completed soon in which, according to MilTech sources, the preliminary preparation and structural transformation of the A330 MRTTs will be carried out. A view from the Exercise Control Centre at Golcuk Naval Base. (Photo: Sinan Altinel) Pakistan’s MILGEM Corvettes to Feature ALBATROS NG The PN-MILGEM corvettes for the Pakistan Navy will be fitted with MBDA’s ALBATROS NG NBAD (Naval Based Air Defence) system, in- stead of the HHQ-16 system originally planned. The corvettes will thus be able to engage more air targets simultaneously than the semi-active ra- dar-guided HHQ-16, and to provide higher performance in the EW threat environment. Under the contract signed between main contractor ASFAT and the Pakistan Ministry of Defence Production in July 2018, a total of four cor- vettes, based on the design of the ADA-class corvette, are being built, two in Istanbul Shipyard Command in Turkey, and two at the Karachi Shipyard & Engineering Works (KSEW) in Pakistan. Within the scope of this last minute change, a number of improvements and modifications were carried out on the original sensor and weapons [Beginning with this issue, MilTech offers readers the latest industrial news from Turkey, in a regular column provided direct from our cor- respondents in Istanbul. This increasingly important market will re- ceive further attention from MilTech in the future – keep an eye open for our coverage of ISDEF in the next issue. – Editor] Defence Exports on Upward Trend Having closed the year 2020 with an export revenue of $2.279 billion ( € 1.93 billion) - a 16.8% decrease compared to 2019, Turkey’s defence and aerospace industry managed to increase exports significantly during the first five months of 2021: 3.7% in January, 34.1% in February, 74.6% in March, 47.8% in April and 51.6% in May, all figures compared with the same period in 2020, according to the Turkish Exporters’ Assemly (TIM), despite the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Export revenues are expected to increase further in 2021 and even exceed the record high of $2.740 billion for 2019. TIM data reveals that the five month total reached $1.12 billion, a 48.3% increase over the same period last year. TIM lists the top 16 export customers during the period to be: the USA, Azerbaijan, the UAE, Germany, Bangladesh, Tunisia, Uzbekistan, Jordan, the UK, Rwanda, Qatar, Russian Federation, Poland, Oman, the Netherlands and China. TurAF to Replace STRATOTANKERs with A330 MRTT The veteran KC-135R STRATOTANKERs currently operated by the Turkish Air Force (TurAF) are expected to be replaced with the A330 Multi Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) aircraft over the next several years. The Airbus aircraft was one of two candidates evaluated as part of the TurAF’s requirement for a New-Generation Tanker Aircraft. Sources indicate that concrete progress has been made in the nego- tiations that started with Airbus in 2020, and that the green light for the project may be given this summer of 2021 (July/August). Under the proposed project, which will be coordinated by ASFAT (Military Factory and Shipyard Management Inc.) within the Turkish Sinan Altinel Industry News from Turkey Retrofit work taking place on the Turkish Air Force’s first A400M was scheduled for completion around the time this issue went to press. (Photo: Turkish MoND)