The Aerospace Industry will serve as the main contractor in both projects, and the deal will involve "Alup", the camera manufacturer, and Rafael * The value of the sales to Turkey is 270 million doLr
5.7.2000
By: Amnon Barzilai
Israel will supply "Ofek" series intelligence satellites to Turkey and Singapore. The Aerospace Industry will serve as the main contractor in both projects, and the deal will involve "Alup", the manufacturer of the camera, and the Armaments Development Authority (Rafael).
These are the first two transactions carried out by Israel for the sale of photography satellites. The deal with Singapore was concluded after four years of discussions, and its scope may reach one billion dollars. The deal with Turkey was reached after "Ofek" won the tender of the Turkish Ministry of Defense; Its scope is estimated at 200 million dollars.
This is Israel's second military deal with Turkey in the last month; At the beginning of June it was reported that Israeli industries will carry out the improvement project of 170 Peton M-60 tanks of the Turkish Armored Corps, at a cost of about 350 million dollars.
The satellite used by Israel, Ofek 3, is small and light (about 230 kg). It moves in a low orbit of about 600-500 km around the earth. "Ofek" 3 was launched into space in April 95 and since then has been transmitting recent photographs of the Middle East in excellent quality.
{Appeared in the Haaretz newspaper, 5/7/2000} The Hidan website was until 2002 part of the IOL portal
The value of the "Ofek" satellite transactions - 1.2 billion dollars
Ofek satellite. The discussions on its supply to Turkey began during the visit of
Former Defense Minister Yitzhak Mordechai in the country in December '97
By Amnon Barzilai
Israel will provide photography satellites for intelligence purposes from the "Ofek" series
to Turkey and Singapore. The deal with Singapore was reached within the framework of an agreement between
both countries. The Turkish Ministry of Defense decided to prefer "Ofek"
The Israeli over a satellite made by the French company Alcatel, in a tender
who published The satellites will be built at the Mbat factory in Yehud, which belongs to the industry
Air, which will also serve as the main contractor in both projects. The scope of the transaction
With Turkey is estimated at 200 million dollars and the scope of the deal with Singapore
may reach a billion dollars.
These are the first two deals that Israel has made for the sale of satellites
Photo. Alup, owned by Elbit Systems - a manufacturer, will take part in the deal
The camera - and the Weapons Development Authority (Raphael). It is not yet clear if
The deals also include the supply of satellite launchers of the "Shavit" model, as well
It is made by the aerospace industry.
The discussions on the sale of "Ofek" satellites to Singapore lasted about four years
And the discussions on the sale to Turkey - about three years.
The English weekly "Jane's Defense Weekly" writes in its published issue
Today, the agreement with Singapore stipulates that the two countries will invest jointly
in research and development (R&D) for the production of a series of photographic satellites. On
According to the scope of the transaction, it is probably four or five satellites.
According to the newspaper, Israel will provide the technology and Singapore the financing.
Discussions on the delivery of the "Ofek" photography satellite to Turkey began at the same time
The visit of former Defense Minister Yitzhak Mordechai to the country in December 97
And they continued as part of the talks for strategic security cooperation, which jumped off
step since the mid-90s
Prime Minister and Defense Minister Ehud Barak also promoted cooperation with
Turkey in the "Ofek" project, when he spoke with the Prime Minister of Turkey Bulent
Acwit, during his visit there last October.
At the same time as talks with representatives of the security establishment about the Israeli solution
For intelligence photography from space, Turkey announced a tender to buy satellites
Photo. After filtering out the competitors, only IAI and Alcatel remained.
The Turkish daily "Milit", which quoted an official in the Turkish Ministry of Defense as confirming
Speaking about the win, he wrote that the Aerospace Industry was chosen after the moment
The latter lowered the price of the satellite significantly - by more than 480
million dollars - to 274 million dollars, while Alcatel's offer was
$ 350 million.
{Appeared in Haaretz newspaper, 5/7/2000{
