Ankara, Turkey, 28th January 2013
– Thales has achieved delivery of the first of
three maritime surveillance aircraft under the Meltem II programme for Turkey.
This aircraft will be operated by the Turkish Coast Guard from Izmir Air Base.
Pierre Eric Pommellet, Senior Vice-President of Thales Group, officially handed
over the aircraft at a ceremony held at the Turkish Aerospace Industry (TAI)
facility in Ankara. The official hand-over was presided by Turkish Minister of
Interior, Mr İdris Naim Şahin, who thanked all contributors to the programme
and its main contractor Thales for “delivering a state-of-the-art aircraft
which will enable the Turkish Coast Guards to perform their surveillance duty
up to 120 miles from the
coast”.
The ceremony was also attended by the Undersecretary for Defence
Industries (SSM), the Turkish Coast Guards Chief Admiral, and the Turkish Coast
Guard Izmir Air-base Commander. The French Ambassador to Turkey also attended
the ceremony with a representative of the French defence procurement agency
(DGA), as well as the General Managers of TAI, Havelsan, Aselsan and Milsoft,
the Turkish companies involved in the programme.
This marks the delivery of the first maritime
surveillance aircraft equipped with the Thales AMASCOS mission system, which
will provide the Turkish Coast Guards with an enhanced capability to better
monitor the Turkish Exclusive Economic Zone and Territorial Waters.
This maritime surveillance aircraft is
designed to perform a broad spectrum of missions including:
- Surface
Surveillance and Naval control, anti-drug and other types of smuggling operations,
the prevention of illegal immigration and illicit fishing
- Maritime pollution
surveillance, with the provision of enhanced evidence collection capabilities,
essential to this kind of operation
- Search and rescue operations.
Thales
is the prime contractor for the Meltem II programme, which calls for the
delivery of six maritime patrol aircraft for the Turkish Navy and three
maritime surveillance aircraft for the Turkish Coast Guard, all based on
modified CASA CN-235 platforms. The programme also includes the provision of
additional maritime patrol systems to the Turkish Navy, to be integrated on ATR
72 aircraft. All mission systems are based on Thales's AMASCOS solution
(Airborne Maritime Situation & Control System).
This success marks a new
major milestone in the Meltem II programme, and follows the delivery of four
maritime patrol aircraft (initial standard) to the Turkish Navy during the
first semester of 2012. This is further testament to the maturity of the
AMASCOS solution and further consolidates Thales's market leadership in
maritime surveillance and patrol systems. The programme represents the latest
validation of Thales’s position as a world-class systems supplier and
integrator offering a broad spectrum of mission critical systems, able to meet
specific requirements of both armed forces and civilian protection agencies
from across the world.