Spirit of Shenzen Chapter 2, it doesn’t stop at iPads

So we are going to have weapons competition over the F-35 sales in foreign nations?

We’ve already LOST sales, and in a (so called) NATO ally. Here are two items from well informed sources.

WELL INFORMED.

Turkey turns down U.S., buys Chinese missile defense system

ANKARA — Turkey, rejecting its NATO allies, has selected a ballistic missile defense system from China.

The Defense Industry Executive Council approved a Chinese bid for the HQ-9 BMD system.

China’s HQ-9 ballistic missile defense system.   

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The council, responsible for major military procurement, deemed the offer by the state-owned China Precision Machinery Export-Import Corp. as the lowest bidder in the T-LORAMIDS tender.

"Ankara has granted a long-awaited tender for long-range missile and air defense systems to Chinese contenders, dismissing bids from major NATO allies such as the United States, France and Italy," Turkey’s state-owned Andalou news agency said.

The decision, announced on Sept. 26, marked a two-year delay of Turkey’s multi-billion-dollar BMD program. Until 2013, the U.S.-origin PAC-3 was deemed the frontrunner in the competition.

Officials said the Chinese bid came to $3 billion, as little as half of other bids, including the Russian-origin S-300PMU2, Eurosam’s SAMP/T Aster 30 and Lockheed Martin’s PAC-3. They said the Chinese system was promoted by Prime Minister Recep Erdogan, chairman of the council.

Over the last few months, the United States as well as other NATO states urged Erdogan not to select the HQ-9, said to be a variant of the S-300. They said NATO would not connect its BMD assets, including those in Turkey, to HQ-9.

In 2013, NATO deployed six Patriot batteries in Turkey to defend against any Syrian missile attack. The batteries were contributed by Germany, the Netherlands and the United States. 

State-owned China firm invests $3 billion in Turkish energy

East-Asia-Intel.com, September 25, 2013

China Machinery Engineering Corp. headquarters.

ANKARA — China has sought a role in Turkey’s energy sector and is pursuing an alliance.

The state-owned China Machinery Engineering Corp. has been negotiating to participate in Turkish energy development projects.

The company, with a presence in Turkey for nearly 30 years, has also sought to help develop power for the Ankara government.

"We have already had talks with a number of potential local partners, and our teams have been working on the details of the power generation and power distribution sectors of Turkey, which is very developed in the construction industry," CMEC president Zhang Chun said.

In an interview with Turkey’s Hurriyet daily, Zhang said CMEC would invest up to $100 million in equity capital for power projects in Turkey. He said the company, with an office in Ankara, has already invested more than $3 billion in the NATO member-state.

"We will make the required acquisitions from Turkey both in construction materials and services as well."