No handshakes yet on US gunship sale

U.S. President Barack Obama's administration wants to sell the Turkish military a limited number of AH-1W Super Cobra attack helicopters, yet the two countries still need to resolve several matters before the transfer can take place.

Turkey needs the helicopters as a stopgap solution until mid-2010 when it begins receiving T129 gun ships presently being manufactured by Italian-British company AgustaWestland and its Turkish partners.

On Oct. 23, U.S. Ambassador to Ankara James Jeffrey said Washington had agreed to the sale, according to Turkish press reports. The Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review has learned that the ambassador was voicing the Obama administration's support for the sale, but that several details still needed clarification.

“This is not a done deal yet,” said one Ankara-based industry official familiar with the matter. “U.S. and Turkish officials are now working to resolve several things, including availability matters, the number of platforms, the price and other details. The U.S. administration can seek congressional approval once it sorts out these details.”

Any large-scale U.S. arms sale requires Congress' approval. In January Turkey's procurement agency formally asked the U.S. government for the sale of about 10 helicopters. Bell Helicopter Textron, maker of the Super Cobra, is not building any AH-1Ws while it begins to upgrade the U.S. Marine Command's nearly 170 AH-1Ws to the Z model.

Long search for upgrades

Turkey has been informally seeking to buy a few of the U.S. Marines’ Super Cobras since 2007.

Former President George W. Bush's administration had opposed such a transfer, saying the Marines, involved in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, needed all of the aircraft. It had instead offered the sale of the U.S. military's AH-64D Apache Longbow attack helicopters.

Saying that Turkey had no capabilities to maintain the Apaches, however, Turkish officials rejected the offer and insisted on a small number of Super Cobras.

The Turkish military is presently believed to be operating six AH-1Ws.

Turkey acquired its current AH-1Ws from the United States in the early 1990s. It originally had 10, but four of them either crashed or went out of use.

In 2000 Ankara selected Bell Helicopter Textron for its joint production program for at least 50 helicopters, but a contract could never be signed because of disputes over price and technology transfer, so the Turkish procurement office canceled the program in 2005. In a renewed tender in 2007, Ankara selected AgustaWestland for the T129’s joint production. The aircraft’s first test flight was in late September, but deliveries will not begin for five or six years.

In addition to its current six double-engine AH-1Ws, the Turkish military is also operating more than 20 AH-1Ps, an earlier model in the Cobra family. This single-engine platform, however, is considerably inferior to the Super Cobra in terms of maneuverability, operational altitude and firepower.