Israel delivers airborne reconnaissance systems to Turkey

The Israeli regime has delivered airborne electronic systems to Turkey, which will integrate the systems into its Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) military aircraft.

The reconnaissance systems have now arrived at a Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) facility in Ankara, and their integration into military aircraft purchased from the United States will be completed in the next few weeks, the Turkish newspaper Today’s Zaman reported on Sunday.

An unnamed senior Turkish defense official said that the US multinational aerospace and defense corporation, Boeing, had to intervene to resolve the standoff between Turkey and the Israeli regime over the systems.

“Boeing told Israel that their refusal to complete the delivery was hurting their business, and Israel agreed to deliver the equipment,” the Turkish official said.

In 2002, Turkey’s Under-secretariat for Defense Industries, the procurement agency, ordered four Boeing 737-700 AWACS aircraft, a ground radar and control systems, plus ground control segments for mission crew training, mission support and maintenance support.

The Israeli company Elta Systems Ltd. was commissioned to manufacture electronic measuring systems (EMS) for the four planes. The deal reportedly costs more than $100 million.

However, the Israeli ministry for military affairs suspended the project several months ago, after Elta had already completed two of the devices.

Elta’s decision to renew the project may mean that Israel is putting an end to its two-year defense exports ban on Turkey.

Airborne Warning and Control System is a radar system designed to detect aircraft, ships and vehicles at long ranges and control and command the battle space in an air engagement by directing fighter and attack aircraft strikes.

Used at a high altitude, the radars on the aircraft allow the operators to distinguish between friendly and hostile aircraft hundreds of miles away.

The system is used offensively to direct fighters to their target locations and defensively in order to counter attacks by enemy forces, both in the air and on the ground.