ILA2014: TAI looking to make step change to 'next level', says CEO
Having transformed itself over the previous decade from a subcontractor to an original equipment manufacturer, Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) is now looking to take the next step as it seeks to fully establish itself as one of the world's foremost defence companies.
Speaking to IHS Jane's at the ILA Berlin Airshow on 21 May, company president and CEO, Muharrem Dortkasli, said: "I feel that the most challenging period [for TAI] was the past 10 years, and that is now behind us. It is now time for us to make another step change to the next level, and to start exhibiting and selling our own products [to the international market]."
With Turkey featuring prominently at ILA as the official partner country, TAI had a particularly strong presence at the show, with a number of its products on display. These included the T129 ATAK combat helicopter, the Anka medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), and a mock-up of the Hurkus trainer aircraft.
With the first 9 of 50 ATAK helicopters having only recently been delivered to the Turkish Armed Forces, the T129 is now primed to take on the export market. Dortkasli declined to name specific countries being targeted, but the helicopter did make an appearance at the Bahrain Airshow earlier in the year in what could be a precursor to a Bell AH-1 Cobra replacement programme for the Middle Eastern kingdom.
According to IHS Jane's Defence Procurement , other attack helicopter requirements exist in Argentina, Chile, Finland, Hungary, Indonesia, Kuwait, Malaysia, Morocco, the Philippines, and Poland, among others. Dortkasli noted that he expected the T129 to make its UK debut at the Farnborough Airshow in July.
On the subject of the Anka MALE UAV, Dortkasli was again reluctant to comment on specific opportunities, but with the Turkish Armed Force having recently placed an order for 10 Block B configuration platforms (with deliveries set to commence in 2016), there is plenty of scope for future export success. While the Anka is currently unarmed, TAI is known to be looking at options for weaponising the platform.
With regard to the Hurkus, Dortkasli said the ongoing flight trials campaign precluded it from making an appearance at ILA and that Farnborough may also be too soon. Instead, a life-size mock-up of the cockpit was shown on the company's stand. Even so, with the Turkish Air Force expected to field the Hurkus in conjunction with its Northrop T-38 Talon, the twin-seat turboprop should prove to be a low-cost but capable option in both the light trainer and light attack categories globally.