Turkey could not make a decision at the helicopter bid held on Tuesday and postponed the announcement of the results to a later date upon the General Staff's request to test the helicopters again.
The Defense Industry Executive Committee convened on Tuesday, chaired by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The committee was to decide on either Italian Westland's Mangusta or South African Denel's Rooivalk proposal for the attack helicopter deal, which is worth at least $2 billion.
Minister of National Defense Vecdi Gonul told reporters following the meeting that the bid was postponed once more for further tests required by the General Staff on the helicopters. The decision on the type of the helicopter will be made in the following days.
The South African helicopters use French engines, which may be an obstacle due to the discord on the so-called Armenian genocide between Turkey and France.
The contract is for the purchase of 50 helicopters and then co-production of 20 helicopters with an option for 21 more.
The committee also decided to buy 130 F-35s from the United States which will cost Turkey about $2 billion, Gonul added.
The Undersecretariat of the Defense Industry was also authorized for the purchase of another 30 F-16 fighters for approximately $1.6 billion.
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