EUROTAI is a joint venture between Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) and Eurocopter (later known as Airbus Helicopters). The venture agreement was signed in February 1997 and was worth FF4.45 billion (approximately US$450 million), under which TAI would produce the Eurocopter Super Puma and Cougar under licence in Turkey.[1][2][3][4][5][6]

EUROTAI
Company typeJoint venture
IndustryDefense
Technology
Software
Aerospace
Headquarters

Known as PHENIX 2, the contract covers the supply of 10 Cougar helicopters for the need of the Turkish Land Forces and additionally of 20 helicopters for the Search and Rescue (SAR) and Combat SAR (CSAR) missions of the Turkish Air Force.[3]

TAI is responsible for manufacturing and building the airframe, assembling the helicopters and performing the acceptance tests. The first AS 532 UL Cougar helicopter was delivered to the Turkish Air Force for CSAR operations officially in May 2000.[3][7][6] The number of in-Turkey manufactured helicopter deliveries to the Turkish Armed Forces reached to 27 in September 2002. The order for manufacturing of 30 helicopters was completed at the end of that year.[8]

References edit

  1. ^ "The Eurocopter - TAI Consortium (EUROTAI) : Backbone of the Helicopter Industry in Turkey".[permanent dead link]
  2. ^ "Tusas Aerospace Industries (TAI) from Turkey and EUROCOPTER Extend their Cooperation in the Super Puma / Cougar Helicopter Family". Archived from the original on 2008-11-15.
  3. ^ a b c "Delivery of the First "Combat SAR" Cougar to the Turkish Air Force". Helicopter History Site. 2010-05-01. Retrieved 2015-04-22.
  4. ^ Ülker, Emrah (1998-11-27). "TAI'nin başarısı". Zaman (in Turkish). Retrieved 2015-04-22.
  5. ^ "The Turkish defense ministry.", Aviation Week & Space Technology, 146 (8): 17, 1997-02-24, archived from the original on 2014-09-30, retrieved 2015-04-22
  6. ^ a b "First Cougar copter delivered to Turkish military". Hürriyet Daily News. 2000-05-02. Retrieved 2015-04-22.
  7. ^ "Turkish air force receives first Cougar". Flight Global. 2000-05-09. Retrieved 2015-04-22.
  8. ^ "Number of Cougars in the army reaches 27". Hürriyet Daily News. 2002-09-20. Retrieved 2015-04-22.