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Friday, March 30, 2007

Italian co. wins Turkish heli contract

"Italian co. wins Turkish heli contract

By SELCAN HACAOGLU
BW Exclusives

ANKARA, Turkey

Italy's Agusta Aerospace on Friday won a major Turkish tender worth $2.7 billion to co-produce attack helicopters as Turkey sought to diversify resources from its usual supplier -- the United States.

For the first time since they began cooperating in arms sales, no U.S. companies bid for the contract because of strict Turkish regulations. The rules stipulate Turkey be given full access to the aircraft's specific software codes -- which the U.S. considers a security risk -- and a guarantee from the provider's government that there would be no political obstacles to the sale."

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