On September 26, Turkey announced the completion of the T-LORAMIDS (Turkish Long Range Air And Missile Defense System) tender, which had lasted for several years. After a long comparison of applicants and searching for the most advantageous offer, the Turkish military and officials made their choice. At a meeting of the secretariat of the defense industry of the Ministry of Defense of Turkey, chaired by Prime Minister R. T. Erdogan, the choice was approved. Having considered several proposals from foreign manufacturers, Turkey chose the Chinese-made HQ-9 (FD-2000) anti-aircraft missile system. This decision of the Turkish military and state leadership came as a surprise to specialists. The Chinese air defense system was not considered as the favorite of the tender. Moreover, the very course of the T-LORAMIDS tender gave rise to doubts about its successful completion.
HQ-9 (FD-2000)
The tender for the purchase of new anti-aircraft missile systems for the Turkish armed forces has become one of the longest in the history of the country. The start of the competition was announced in 2009. Shortly thereafter, the European consortium Eurosam, which proposed SAMP / T, the American alliance of Lockheed Martin and Raytheon with Patriot PAC-2 GMT and PAC-3 complexes, the Russian Rosoboronexport with the S-300VM air defense system, as well as the Chinese import-export CPMIEC corporation with HQ-9 system. The composition of bidders for the contract almost immediately became the reason for subsequent events that negatively affected the course of the tender. So, it was originally planned that the contract for the supply of anti-aircraft systems would be signed in early 2012. However, the winner of the competition was named almost two years after the originally planned date.
Patriot PAC-2
S-300VM "Antey-2500"
Just a few months after the start of the tender, the first reports appeared about the possible purchase by Turkey of the Russian S-300VM air defense systems. There was no official confirmation of such information, and the rumors were based on the fact that the Turkish and Russian sides began negotiations on the terms of possible supplies. It should be noted that simultaneously with these negotiations, Turkish officials began discussing relevant issues with other participants in the tender. In particular, Ankara was in talks with Washington. As far as is known, one of the requirements of the Turkish military and industry was the partial localization of the production of anti-aircraft systems at Turkish enterprises. In this regard, the United States for a long time refused to supply possible air defense systems to Turkey.
In mid-2011, US officials made a statement that almost brought the T-LORAMIDS competition to a halt. According to some reports, by that time Turkey was ready to acquire Russian anti-aircraft missile systems. However, the United States warned her against such a move. The United States substantiated its point of view by referring to the features of communication and control systems. Since Turkey is a NATO member and uses equipment built in accordance with the standards of this organization, it may have serious problems integrating the purchased complexes into existing systems. In addition, Turkey was hinted that it could be "turned off" from the information coming from the early warning radar of a missile attack in Kurerdzhik. The fact is that information from this station first goes to the NATO command post in Germany and only then is transmitted to other countries.
By the end of 2011, a strange situation had developed. The most likely subject of a future contract was considered to be American or Russian-made anti-aircraft systems. At the same time, the United States remained silent about the sale of its Patriot air defense systems, while warning Turkey about the possible consequences of choosing Russian-made products. In connection with these events, the SAMP / T air defense system of the European consortium Eurosam and the Chinese complex HQ-9 temporarily faded into the background. By the beginning of 2013, the situation with the T-LORAMIDS tender reached the point that there were reports of the possible emergence of its own Turkish project, which will provide the army with the necessary air defense systems and do without problems in relations with NATO allies.
In June 2013, foreign media published new information about the protracted tender. With reference to some sources close to the Turkish defense procurement agency, it was argued that Turkey is currently showing great interest in the Chinese HQ-9 air defense system and can initiate contract negotiations. Probably, this information turned out to be true and the Turkish military was really interested in Chinese-made anti-aircraft systems. At least, such messages were confirmed in the form of official information on the results of the tender.
The result of several years of negotiations, discussions and veiled threats was the decision of the Turkish leadership announced on September 26. Turkey intends to acquire 12 divisions of the HQ-9 air defense system in the export version called FD-2000. The contract is valued at approximately 3.4 billion US dollars. According to official figures, the reason for this decision was the price of Chinese anti-aircraft systems. By this parameter, they bypassed all competitors. A few days after the announcement of the winner, the Turkish edition of the Hurriyet Daily News published an interview with the head of the secretariat of the defense industry M. Bayar. The official said that the second place in the tender for economic indicators was taken by the SAMP / T air defense system of European production, and the third place was taken by the American complexes of the Patriot family. The Russian S-300VM air defense system did not reach the final stages of the tender.
M. Bayard also spoke about some of the details of the contract, which is being prepared for signing. Turkey and China intend to build the FD-2000 air defense system by joint efforts. Half of all work will be carried out at Turkish enterprises. The Chinese side promised to start supplying ready-made complexes and their individual elements for assembly in Turkey in the near future. It is possible that Turkish officials were attracted not only by the characteristics and cost of Chinese anti-aircraft systems. From the very beginning of the competition, Turkey regularly reminded that it wants to entrust part of the work on the production of air defense systems to its industry and thereby help it master new technologies. Russia and the United States, as far as we know, were not ready to transfer the necessary technologies to the Turkish industry.
Immediately after the announcement of the results of the tender, statements were made by representatives of the United States and NATO. Such a choice of the Turkish military caused bewilderment and discontent among them. First, the North Atlantic Alliance and the United States do not understand how Turkey is going to integrate Chinese-made air defense systems into NATO's communications and command systems. Second, the United States is not happy with the fact that its NATO ally is going to buy military equipment from the CPMIEC corporation, which is subject to US sanctions. The reason for these measures was the cooperation of CPMIEC with Iran and the DPRK.
In response to NATO fears M. Bayar said that the new Chinese air defense systems will be fully integrated into the existing air defense system of Turkey. Thus, the new acquisition of the Turkish armed forces will be able to fully work with the corresponding NATO systems. In addition, the head of the secretariat of the defense industry assured that there will be no leaks of information and therefore NATO may not worry about the possible negative consequences of adopting the HQ-9 air defense system. How exactly the interaction of Chinese-made complexes with other systems built according to NATO standards will be ensured has not yet been specified.
Shortly after an interview with a representative of the Turkish Ministry of Defense, official Beijing expressed its position on the issue. According to the statements of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the signing of the contract for the supply of the HQ-9 / FD-2000 indoor switchgear is another step in international cooperation between China and Turkey in the military-technical field. At the same time, Chinese diplomats called on Western countries to objectively consider the results of the T-LORAMIDS tender, without politicizing them.
At present, representatives of Turkey and China are discussing the details of the contract planned for signing. The main points of this agreement were agreed upon earlier, during the selection of the most advantageous offer. Now the parties have to discuss a number of important nuances and determine the timing of the start of deliveries of both ready-made systems and components for the assembly of air defense systems in Turkey. It is estimated that the entire order will take several years to complete.
The HQ-9 anti-aircraft missile system chosen by the Turkish military is not without reason considered a copy of the Soviet / Russian systems of the S-300P family. In the early nineties and two thousand years, China acquired a number of S-300PMU1 and S-300PMU2 air defense systems, which were carefully studied. A number of information obtained from the analysis of both complexes allowed Chinese engineers to improve the existing projects. Thus, in fact, the HQ-9 air defense system is a further development of China's existing developments, taking into account the information obtained in the analysis of Soviet and Russian-made equipment.
In terms of a number of characteristics, the HQ-9 air defense system is similar to the Soviet / Russian complexes studied by Chinese specialists during its development. The maximum range and height of destruction of an aerodynamic target are 200 and 30 km, respectively. Each launcher carries four guided missiles. Depending on the tactical necessity, the complex can use several types of missiles. It should be noted that the HQ-9 complex is the first Chinese system of this class capable of intercepting some types of ballistic missiles.
When creating a new anti-aircraft complex, the Chinese defense industry took into account some of the features of the modern struggle for control over the airspace. The main method of suppressing enemy air defense is currently considered to be the detection of radar stations and their destruction with precision weapons. The HQ-9 anti-aircraft missile system is said to be capable of operating in the so-called. passive mode, which increases its survivability in conditions of active opposition from the enemy. For this, the complex has several electronic reconnaissance posts designed to search for targets in protected airspace without the use of radar stations. The detected object is supposed to be attacked by an anti-aircraft missile with a passive radar homing head. Such ammunition is self-guided to radio signals emitted by an enemy aircraft. Thus, the operating airborne radar of the aircraft or the data transmission system of the reconnaissance UAV contributes to the operation of ground-based facilities and the anti-aircraft missile system. It should be noted that equipment and ammunition for work in passive mode is part of the standard equipment of both the HQ-9 complex and its export version FD-2000.
Thanks to this, by purchasing Chinese air defense systems, Turkey gets some new opportunities to protect its airspace. Separately, it should be noted that currently only China offers for export anti-aircraft complexes with the ability to passively work at prices acceptable to customers. As for Russia, a number of such systems are currently not for sale at all. As a result, Turkey receives anti-aircraft missile systems with good characteristics, and China promotes its products to the international market. In addition, the Turkish industry, which will take over the fulfillment of part of the order of the armed forces, will receive a number of important technologies from the Chinese.
A number of issues related to the Turkish-Chinese contract can already be considered resolved. However, some not entirely clear points remain. For example, the integration of Chinese systems into the communications and command structure used by the Turkish Armed Forces, built in accordance with NATO standards. Probably, the Turkish-Chinese cooperation should lead to the creation of a certain set of tools designed to convert the signals of some systems into a form that meets other standards. However, the very possibility of creating such equipment raises great doubts. Because of this, Turkey, as NATO allies warned it, could indeed get a host of problems related to international cooperation.
As a result, the tender for the supply of air defense systems for the Turkish armed forces, which has been dragging on for several years, may have an unexpected continuation associated with the fulfillment of the contract and ensuring the operability of the built systems. Moreover, previous events around the T-LORAMIDS tender may hint at political implications. What exactly will happen after the signing of the contract - time will tell.
