The Turkish government has demanded $183 million worth of penalties from Boeing due to major delays in the delivery of spy planes to the NATO ally, officials said Feb. 18.
A senior procurement official familiar with Turkey’s airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft program said that Ankara demanded Boeing pay the penalty in services.
Cemal Evci, project coordinator at the Undersecretariat for Defense Industries (SSM), told reporters that the Turkish Defense Ministry demanded an increase in the start-up support period from an initial two years to five years as well as three years of software maintenance service in addition to $32 million worth of spare parts in return for writing off the $183 million penalty and accumulated interest due to delays in the AEW&C program.
Boeing officials were not immediately available for comment.Boeing delivered the first aircraft to Turkey in late January although original deliveries had been planned for 2008 under the approximately $1.3 billion contract for four aircraft.
Boeing has said that it will complete deliveries in 2015. The company said two more AEW&C aircraft are to be delivered this year, with the fourth in 2015. In addition to the aircraft, the program, dubbed “Peace Eagle,” includes ground support segments for mission crew training, mission support and system maintenance.
The AEW&C is based on the Boeing 737-700 airplane, a popular commercial jet. Australia and South Korea also operate the AEW&C platforms.
Turkish defense officials say Turkey had paid Boeing $637 million in advance. ■http://www.defensenews.com/
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