Italians offer Turkey partnership on new military aircraft plan

Italian defense giant Finmeccanica, a top international group operating in Turkey's defense and aerospace industries, is proposing a partnership to meet Turkey's future military aircraft requirements, a top official with the firm said this week. "In the short and medium term, for example, Turkey already has or will soon have requirements for passenger and military air transport and latest-generation trainer aircraft, for which the Finmeccanica Group companies offer themselves as partners for national companies," Finmeccanica's Paolo Pozzessere said in an interview. Analysts say Turkey will spend tens of billions of dollars on various requirements for its military aircraft over the next 15 years. Pozzessere said Finmeccanica's main objective is to maintain its leading position in the Turkish market and use this as a springboard to increase penetration into other countries in the region. He also said Finmeccanica's strategic objective in the Turkish market is to reach a global agreement with the Turkish Armed Forces Foundation, a top Turkish defense group. Pozzessere said Finmeccanica and local Turkish companies could also jointly cooperate in international competitions.