Turkey plans to break its $4.1 billion order for 145 attack helicopter

Turkey plans to break its $4.1 billion order for 145 attack helicopters into three batches with production continuing until 2008 and payments spread out over 10-15 years, Turkish defense minister Sabahattin Cakmakoglu told a parliamentary commission on Thursday. The first 250-tank batch, out of a planned buy of 1,000 costing $7.1 billion, is to be ordered by year-end, while production will continue until 2013. Turkey also wants to buy eight early warning aircraft by 2008 and was trying to secure a $1.5 billion foreign loan for that project (Reuters, April 13).