Special to WorldTribune.com

ANKARA — Turkey has again extended the deadline of its ballistic missile defense tender.

The Defense Industry Undersecretariat, known as SSM, extended the deadline for the procurement of a BMD system by another two months.

Hours before the expiration, SSM, which selected a Chinese platform, informed bidders that the deadline was moved from April 30 to June 30.

“The extension was expected as Turkey has not decided to formally award a contract to the Chinese,” an industry source said.

This marked the third extension of the BMD tender. In September 2013, SSM selected China Precision Machinery Import-Export Corp., which offered its HQ-9 system, valued at $3.4 billion, far less than platforms from Europe and the United States.

Two consortium have been drafting bids meant to compete with China Precision. Lockheed Martin and Raytheon were offering the PAC-3 while Eurosam briefed Ankara on its Aster-30 system. Officials said Aster-30 was ranked second to CPMIEC, followed by the U.S. bid. A fourth competitor, Russia’s S-400 was eliminated by SSM.

Turkish sources said SSM was still negotiating with China regarding
co-production and technology transfer. They said a key requirement called for
the development of an HQ-9 variant interoperable with NATO’s BMD network.

  Aster-30, HQ-9, PAC-3, Turkey again delays missile defense system decision after opting for Chinese offer