Turkey to become major production of general-purpose helicopters

Turkey is expected to become a major global production and export center of military general-purpose helicopters in near future.

Turkey, which is getting prepared to manufacture general-purpose helicopters in cooperation with the U.S. aircraft manufacturer Sikorsky, hopes to begin exporting these products
simultaneously, officials told AA on Wednesday.

Aviation officials said that Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. had proposed Turkey to manufacture the International Black Hawk helicopter, adding that the T-70 Black Hawk version would be manufactured for Turkey while the S-70i version of the aircraft might be produced for export markets.

Thanks to the experience it would gain from its cooperation with Sikorsky, Turkey is expected to be an important global center in manufacturing and export of military general-purpose helicopters, sources also said.

As part of the cooperation between Turkey and Sikorsky, the U.S. aviation company will manufacture new-generation general-purpose helicopters (T-70 Black Hawk) for the Turkish Armed Forces. The transmission systems, engines, softwares, avionic & optical systems, flight control systems and landing gears of the aircrafts are envisaged to be produced by the Turkish industry.

Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., based in Stratford, Connecticut, USA, is a world leader in the design, manufacture and service of military and commercial helicopters; fixed-wing aircraft; spare parts and maintenance, repair and overhaul services for helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft; and civil helicopter operations.

Turkish Land Forces, Naval Forces and Police Department use Sikorsky's S-70 series.

Sikorsky's T-70 helicopter is a Turkish variant of the S-70i Black Hawk, built under the license of Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) with indigenous Turkish mission-computer, avionics, landing gear and transmission.


/Trend/