Turkey Requests Used US Attack Helicopters

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In an effort to bolster its capabilities in the fight against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), Turkey has asked the United States to sell about a dozen attack helicopters already being used by the U.S. military, according to officials.
Turkey conveyed its request to the United States last month, one Turkish official said. The Turkish Army presently operates seven AH-1W Super Cobra gunships together with some other earlier versions of the helicopter, all manufactured by Bell Helicopter Textron.The first Cobra helicopters were originally developed by Bell for the U.S. Marine Command, which operates hundreds of these platforms.
The Turkish military particularly wants to purchase Cobras as Turkey already has the necessary repair and maintenance capacities and army pilots trained on that gunship. The U.S. Army's AH-64 Apache is the U.S. military's other attack helicopter, but Turkey does not have that platform in its inventory. Improved ties:
So far the United States has not formally responded to Turkey's request. One U.S. industry source said that Turkey last spring launched an informal inquiry into whether the U.S. military could provide the Turkish Army with excess gunships, but at the time the reply was not positive. But since then political relations have greatly improved between the two NATO allies, especially in the past two months after a U.S. move to provide the Turkish military with actionable intelligence to hit PKK targets inside Iraq.
Gen. Ergin Saygun, deputy chief of the Turkish General Staff, is presently visiting Washington for talks with U.S. counterparts on anti-PKK cooperation and bilateral defense matters. Turkey last year signed a multibillion-dollar contract with the Italian-British AgustaWestland, maker of the A129 Agusta International, which eventually calls for joint production of up to 90 attack helicopters.
Anti-PKK cooperation:
But production has yet to start and at best the first such gunship could be delivered to Turkey in 2014. Turkey's effort to buy used U.S. choppers is aimed at meeting stop-gap requirements. The northern Iraq-based PKK escalated the scope and frequency of attacks on Turkish military and civilian targets last year, and defense analysts say Turkey urgently needs more attack helicopters.
U.S. President George W. Bush in early November ordered the U.S. military to share anti-PKK intelligence with Turkey. Since then, Turkish fighter aircraft have repeatedly struck PKK positions inside Iraq, including the terrorist group's headquarters on Kandil Mountain, more than 100 kilometers south of the border. Turkish air operations came with Washington's apparent blessing, and Turkey's civilian and military leaders have praised "the United States' assistance against terrorism."
 
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