ANKARA
Produced by Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) to meet the requirements of the Turkish Land Forces Command, ATAK was chosen to compete in South Korea's military helicopter bid along with leading Bell-Cobra and Boeing-Apache helicopters.
An announcement by Turkish Defense Ministry said that South Korea collected bids from the contractors for a multi-billion competition to supply 36 attack helicopters and ATAK was chosen one of the three helicopters that will compete in the bid.
Sources said that Turkey is favorable in the bid since it can help South Korea, that wants to develop its defence industry, to produce helicopters.
Saying that Turkey is ambitious in the defence industry, sources stated that ATAK draws close attention of some gulf countries as well as Turkic republics.
-ATAK helicopters-
TAI will produce 59 ATAK helicopters, which are considered "the most effective attack helicopters in its class". The first delivery to Turkish Armed Forces will be made by the end of the year.
First prototype of ATAK made its first flight on August 17, 2011. Currently, 3 of them are being tested in Italy and 2 of them is being tested in Turkey.
Reporting by Ferhat Demircan
