Special to WorldTribune.com

ANKARA — Turkey, despite massive lobbying, has lost a tender to sell
advanced Western submarines to Indonesia.

Officials said a German-Turkish bid for Indonesia’s electric-diesel
submarine project was rejected. Instead, Indonesia selected South Korea’s
Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering to build and supply three
submarines for Jakarta for $1.1 billion.

“This was a very tough competition that the Turkish government tried hard to save,” an official said.

During the tender, Germany’s ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems offered the U-209 submarines in cooperation with Turkey’s Defense Industry Undersecretariat. Officials said Jakarta informed Daewoo of the selection in December and relayed its final decision to Ankara earlier this month.

Under the award, Daewoo would supply three 1,400-ton class
diesel-powered submarines that measure 61.3 meters each. These submarines would be armed with eight weapon tubes designed to discharge torpedos, mines and guided missiles.

Ankara and ThyssenKrupp have become partners in a $2 billion submarine project for the Turkish Navy. Under the project, Turkish companies would help coproduce six U-214 submarines over the next decade.

Officials said Indonesia remained interested in the Turkish-German
partnership. They cited Jakarta’s examination of the U-214 co-produced in
Turkey, which would also supply logistics and training.

“We will try to work hard to meet the requirements for the second
competition [for the U-214 deal],” another official told Turkey’s Hurriyet
daily.

Officials said Turkey would continue to cooperate in defense and
military issues with Indonesia. They cited Ankara’s plans to participate in
Indonesian tenders for the production of tactical communications, tactical
missiles and armored vehicles.

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