US "will not take part in Turkey as of March 2020" say to Turkish companies continue to produce parts for the F-35. Arda Mevlütoğl coronavirus defense policy expert told the effects of the F-35 project, drew attention to the role of Turkey.
According to the news of Sertac Aksan from TRT Haber; "Not only will not be granted to Turkey, the production process and the problems experienced in this crisis and can start a new era in which the permanent agenda of the F-35 fighter aircraft project with some predicament.
President of Defense Industry Dr. Ismail said recently Demir, Turkey's role in the project was announced to the public in a way that continues.
Demir said to a question on the subject: “Our companies continue to produce and deliver. We see that the decision will be considered again with the lessons learned from this process. It was said to stop in March 2020, but it did not stop. Continues. We are loyal to the program. Our contribution to the project is visible to everyone. We continue production as if there were no stopping. They will continue to continue. ”The answer turned the eyes to the F-35 project once again.
Supply chain disrupted due to coronvirus
Defense policy expert Arda Mevlütoğlu stated that Marillyn Hewson, CEO of Lockheed Martin company, the manufacturer of the F-35 Lightning II aircraft, should explain that the supply chains and production activities were disrupted due to COVID-19.
"The CEO of Lockheed Martin company therefore explained that they could not reach the sales and delivery targets for 35 for the F-2020," Mevlütoğlu said:
“The F-35 has many large and small companies in different locations in many countries within a multinational project and production network.
Hardware, components, documents and similar transfers must be made between these companies. Frequent technical or administrative meetings by nature of multinational projects; facility and field visits to respond to problems and troubles; Intensive travel program is required for activities such as control and delivery of software and hardware produced. Sea and air traffic has been largely disrupted by COVID-19. ”
The development process is quite painful
Arda Mevlütoğlu underlined that the F-35 is a family of fighter aircraft consisting of three different versions and that the development process of the project is extremely painful, he continued as follows:
“Significant costs and calendar overruns occurred in the project. Approximately 450 of the aircraft, which are planned to be produced more than three thousand in total, have been delivered to date. As the number of production increased, the unit cost of the plane tended to decrease. Currently, the unit price of the F-35A model is around $ 89 million.
Close the effects of the new era zamwe will see at the moment
The risk of disruption of production activities due to COVID-19 to the project depends on how the period after COVID-19 will take shape. Many countries have already cut their defense budgets. There is also a serious contraction expectation in the post-epidemic global economy.
In this case, it is possible to talk about two different scenarios. If the unit costs of the F-35 can somehow be kept under control, in other words, if there is no significant increase, disruptions in production and deliveries may not disturb the customer countries. Because, due to possible shrinkage in defense budgets, they may prefer to postpone new aircraft supply or operation costs. ”
There may be problems in order and delivery
Pointing out that there are problems on the other side of the coin if the process does not go as planned, Mevlütoğlu said, “However, if the production activities failing due to the epidemic significantly increase the costs of the F-35, this will result in cuts or cuts in orders or deliveries; it may mean a decrease in new sales. ”
Turkey will be affected by this situation how?
Mevlütog "This happened in March 2020 removed from the production chain, as planned, but how does it affect the ongoing Turkey for the supply of parts?" As for the question "In this environment, the Turkish aviation industry, in terms of an opportunity to keep costs under control, rather negotiate with Turkey in the US current likelihood of a trump card" was the answer.
The role of Turkish companies in the project
Parts produced by Turkish companies have been on all aircraft since the first F-35 aircraft. From the middle body of the aircraft to the landing gear; In many different fields from engine to wing, parts are produced by domestic companies.
Turkey, since 1999, the project has so far paid about 1 billion 400 million dollars.
Within the scope of the project, Turkish companies produce more than 900 different items of F-35 parts. Contract commitments of the companies have been completed to a large extent, and within this framework, more than $ 1 billion of exports were realized. Turkish companies are the only source in more than 400 F-35 items.
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