Will an 'invisible hand' spoil Turkey's military aircraft contest?
If it happens, it will certainly set a bizarre precedent in Turkey's defense procurement apparatus: two companies officially bidding for a contract, and a third one winning it. According to Murad Bayar, Turkey's chief procurement official, this is not how the $400 million contract will end up. But there is widespread speculation that Bayar may be over-optimistic.
Last year Brazil's aerospace powerhouse Embraer and South Korean KAI officially made bids in the Turkish competition for the acquisition, with local industry consent, of up to 54 basic trainer aircraft. Swiss manufacturer Pilatus was barred from competition due to an earlier Swiss bill that recognized Armenian genocide. The fourth player in the market, U.S. Raytheon, did not bid as it failed to fulfill contractual terms and conditions.
But the civilian and military flanks of what constitute Turkey's defense procurement mechanism confronted each other after the Turkish Air Force (TuAF) in December sent its pilots to test Raytheon's T-6 aircraft, an option that is not part of the bidding process.
Bayar, Undersecretary for Defense Industries (SSM), wrote a letter to TuAF Commander Gen. Faruk Comert to complain of efforts that may irreparably distort the tender process. Bayar's letter also invited the Air Force to fully cooperate with SSM on the trainer program. Comert has reportedly returned the letter to its sender.
Meanwhile, the team that inspected the Raytheon aircraft recently visited Brazil and South Korea for site surveys to inspect the Super Tucano and the KT-1, the two official rival models in the competition.
In a February visit to Washington, Bayar pledged loyalty to the official tender on the purchase of trainer aircraft, ruling out a buy from Raytheon, but he may have to clash with the military for that.
I am telling you on the record that in the trainer aircraft [and attack helicopter] program we will definitely choose the winner[s] from the official bidders, and not from those firms operating outside the formal process, Bayar said. It may take some more time for a final decision on the trainers, but the winner will be selected from within the tender process.
But Raytheon is keeping its hopes fresh. We still believe the T-6 can best meet the needs of the Turkish Air Force, Raytheon spokesman Mike Turner said. We would welcome the opportunity to work with Turkish industry to place the T-6 in Turkey should the issues surrounding contract terms and conditions be resolved.
Bayar and the civilian government are likely set to clash with the military, said one defense analyst in Ankara. Insisting on the need for loyalty to the official bidding processes on the [attack helicopter and] trainer programs, he is trying to prevent SSM - that conducts both tenders - from being relegated to irrelevance.
The analyst said that the military's overall position on the trainer program was not clear. But after so much speculation on the contract and Raytheon's efforts to win it outside the bidding process, I don't think any Turkish official, civilian or military, could stamp a shady decision. Who, for example, can scrap a valid, fair competition and award the contract to a manufacturer which failed to bid?
ÜMİT ENGİNSOY
ANKARA/WASHINGTON - Turkish Daily News, LINK
If it happens, it will certainly set a bizarre precedent in Turkey's defense procurement apparatus: two companies officially bidding for a contract, and a third one winning it. According to Murad Bayar, Turkey's chief procurement official, this is not how the $400 million contract will end up. But there is widespread speculation that Bayar may be over-optimistic.
Last year Brazil's aerospace powerhouse Embraer and South Korean KAI officially made bids in the Turkish competition for the acquisition, with local industry consent, of up to 54 basic trainer aircraft. Swiss manufacturer Pilatus was barred from competition due to an earlier Swiss bill that recognized Armenian genocide. The fourth player in the market, U.S. Raytheon, did not bid as it failed to fulfill contractual terms and conditions.
But the civilian and military flanks of what constitute Turkey's defense procurement mechanism confronted each other after the Turkish Air Force (TuAF) in December sent its pilots to test Raytheon's T-6 aircraft, an option that is not part of the bidding process.
Bayar, Undersecretary for Defense Industries (SSM), wrote a letter to TuAF Commander Gen. Faruk Comert to complain of efforts that may irreparably distort the tender process. Bayar's letter also invited the Air Force to fully cooperate with SSM on the trainer program. Comert has reportedly returned the letter to its sender.
Meanwhile, the team that inspected the Raytheon aircraft recently visited Brazil and South Korea for site surveys to inspect the Super Tucano and the KT-1, the two official rival models in the competition.
In a February visit to Washington, Bayar pledged loyalty to the official tender on the purchase of trainer aircraft, ruling out a buy from Raytheon, but he may have to clash with the military for that.
I am telling you on the record that in the trainer aircraft [and attack helicopter] program we will definitely choose the winner[s] from the official bidders, and not from those firms operating outside the formal process, Bayar said. It may take some more time for a final decision on the trainers, but the winner will be selected from within the tender process.
But Raytheon is keeping its hopes fresh. We still believe the T-6 can best meet the needs of the Turkish Air Force, Raytheon spokesman Mike Turner said. We would welcome the opportunity to work with Turkish industry to place the T-6 in Turkey should the issues surrounding contract terms and conditions be resolved.
Bayar and the civilian government are likely set to clash with the military, said one defense analyst in Ankara. Insisting on the need for loyalty to the official bidding processes on the [attack helicopter and] trainer programs, he is trying to prevent SSM - that conducts both tenders - from being relegated to irrelevance.
The analyst said that the military's overall position on the trainer program was not clear. But after so much speculation on the contract and Raytheon's efforts to win it outside the bidding process, I don't think any Turkish official, civilian or military, could stamp a shady decision. Who, for example, can scrap a valid, fair competition and award the contract to a manufacturer which failed to bid?
ÜMİT ENGİNSOY
ANKARA/WASHINGTON - Turkish Daily News, LINK
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