China To Build New Turkish Missile System Worth $4 Billion

Turkey has selected a Chinese defence firm for its $4 billion long-range air and missile defence systems contract.

The deal awarded to China Precision Machinery Import and Export Corp (CPMIEC) was announced yesterday by the Turkish defence minister, beating rival bids from Russian’s Rosoboronexport, U.S.’s Lockheed Martin-Raytheon and the Italian-French consortium Eurosamrs.

Turkey has “decided to begin talks with the CPMIEC company of the People's Republic of China for the joint production of the systems and its missiles in Turkey,” a Turkish official was quoted as saying by AFP.  

Turkey wants to build its own long-range air defense and anti-missile architecture to counter both enemy aircraft and missiles.

In January, NATO began deploying Patriot missile system batteries to help protect Turkey from any spillover of the conflict in neighboring Syria.

The Patriot missiles, effective against aircraft and short-range missiles, were provided by the United States, Germany and the Netherlands.