Turkey's Controversial Air Defense Plans

Turkey agreed in principle Sept. 26 to purchase the HQ-9, a long-range air defense system made by Chinese defense contractor China Precision Machinery Import-Export Corp. Turkish President Abdullah Gul has said that the deal is not yet final, and Ankara has since backed away amid pressure from its NATO allies and from Turkish interest groups, but the HQ-9 remains at the top of a very short list of air defense options. The HQ-9 presents several challenges to Ankara. The United States and NATO have warned Turkey repeatedly that because of security issues, the HQ-9 would be difficult to integrate with the rest of Turkey's NATO aligned air defense architecture -- specifically the NATO Air Defense Ground Environment.

More important, there are political and security concerns involved in integrating Chinese software and hardware into the network. Should the HQ-9 be excluded from the network, Turkey would have to build up its own independent air defense network. Military equipment must be relatively uniform throughout NATO countries, so introducing new arms to the alliance tends to be difficult for any potential supplier. If Turkey opts for the Chinese system, NATO probably will not integrate it into its early warning network set -- which would ultimately undermine the effectiveness of the HQ-9.

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