Havelsan To Open First Middle East Office In Qatar

Turkey’s Havelsan will open its first Middle East office in Qatar to offer business development and project management services to the region which includes Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, Jordan and United Arab Emirates.

"We will conduct business development and project management services in the Middle Eastern countries, especially in Qatar through our office, where 15 to 20 engineers and technicians will work." Havelsan Executive Vice President Lütfü Özçakır was quoted as saying to Anadolu Agency (AA) at the Expo Turkey in Doha.

Özçakır said their Helicopter Flight Training Center for Agusta Westland (AW139), which will offer simulated pilot training, was delivered to the Qatari Air Forces Command last week, in line with the agreement signed between Qatar and Havelsan in 2012. He said at least a thousand pilots will be trained at the training center annually.

The facility includes a tactical control center with flights, door-mounted machine guns and partial flight training simulators and costs about $40 million.

Özçakır added that all the maintenance and operation services of the center, 70 percent of which has been built using Turkish products, will be carried out by Turkish technicians in Doha for three years. He confirmed that the center has been given the highest-level (Level D) certification by both the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).

Özçakır said they are planning to open an office in the country soon and 15 to 20 engineers and technicians will be stationed there.