Turkey Asked to Compete in Saudi Helicopter Bid, Sabah Says

Saudi Arabia’s military asked Turkey to enter a tender to produce attack helicopters for the Saudi air force, Sabah newspaper reported.

Turkish officials are in negotiations with Saudi counterparts regarding the Turkish-made Atak T-129 helicopters, which made their first test flights last month and are expected to go into mass production in the middle of next year, the Istanbul-based newspaper said. Sabah didn’t say how it got the information.

The helicopters are produced with parts and input from Turkish companies including Aselsan Elektronik Sanayi & Ticaret AS and are generating interest from Malaysia, Jordan and Pakistan, Sabah said.

South Korea officially invited Turkey to join a tender in April next year for 36 military helicopters, the newspaper said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Benjamin Harvey in Istanbul at bharvey11@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Gavin Serkin at gserkin@bloomberg.net