Thales announced the delivery of the final standard for the Maritime Patrol Aircraft to Turkey as part of the MELTEM II program, for which Thales is the prime contractor.
MELTEM II covers six maritime patrol aircraft, three maritime surveillance aircraft and the provision of ten additional AMASCOS maritime patrol systems.
To-date, five of the six aircraft have been delivered to this standard, with the sixth set for delivery before the summer. This follows the three maritime surveillance aircraft which were sent to the Turkish coastguards last year.
A ceremony was held Monday at the Topel (Turkey) Naval Airbase to celebrate the official delivery of aircraft to the Turkish Navy in the presence of the Chief-of-Staff for the Turkish Navy, Mr. Bülent Bostanoglu, as well as the Secretary of State for the Turkish Defence Industry (SSM), Mr. Ismail Demir.
Pierre Eric Pommellet, Senior Vice President of Thales in charge of Defence Mission Systems, officially handed over the delivery certificate for the aircraft to the Chief of Staff of the Turkish Navy. On this occasion, he highlighted the “strong relationships that have been established throughout the program with Turkish industry partners, TAI, Havelsan, Aselsan and Milsoft.
These partners have enabled the success of this aircraft transformation program and pave the way for future partnerships between Thales and the Turkish industry. We’re focusing on developing this close cooperation and are very proud these maritime patrol aircraft reach a technological and operational standard of excellence. The Turkish Navy can now rely on Thales’s state-of-the-art AMASCOS solution to conduct their maritime patrol missions.”
The finalisation of this program is a further testament to the maturity of the AMASCOS solution and consolidates Thales’s position as a market leader in maritime patrol systems and as a world-class systems supplier and integrator, offering a wide range of mission systems to meet the specific requirements of Armed Forces.
“The strong relationships that have been established throughout the program with Turkish industry partners, TAI, Havelsan, Aselsan and Milsoft have enabled the success of this aircraft transformation program and pave the way for future partnerships between Thales and the Turkish industry,” said Pierre Eric Pommellet, Senior Vice President of Thales in charge of Defence Mission Systems.
“We’re focusing on developing this close cooperation and are very proud these maritime patrol aircraft reach a technological and operational standard of excellence. The Turkish Navy can now rely on Thales’s state-of-the-art AMASCOS solution to conduct their maritime patrol missions.” Pommellet added.
