Turkey Signs Agreement With France, Italy To Develop National Missile Defence System

Turkey has signed an agreement with fellow NATO members France and Italy to develop its national missile defense systems, the Turkish defense minister said on Friday.

Turkish companies would work with Italian-French missile maker consortium Eurosam, defense minister Fikri Isik said on Friday speaking during a reception at the French embassy in Ankara, Anadolu Post reported.

Turkey could be looking at Eurosam’s SAMP/T missile defence system. It is a self-propelled system with truck-mounted modules. Each system typically includes a Fire Control Unit, with a multi-function radar (MRI) and an Engagement Module (ME), and launching elements, with up to 6 vertical launch platforms (MLT) using Aster 30 missiles. SAMP/T is able to simultaneously engage TBMs and ABTs coming from any direction.

SAMP/T provides ABT intercept capability beyond 100 km and ATBM capability against threats in the 600 km range class. ATBM features have been demonstrated in live firings, according to Eurosam information.

The French Air Force deployed a MAMBA (SAMP/T) unit to provide air defence coverage for the G8 summit in Deauville in 2011. 

On July 4, Isik announced that Ankara and Moscow had agreed on the “technical issues” relating to the purchase of the S-400 Russian missile system.

“All technical issues, both by the Russian side and the Turkish side, are over,” Isik said in an interview with broadcaster TRT Haber. “Now it is time for the final decision”.