World Bulletin / News Desk


In Turkey, Israeli firm has been allowed to join a tender for air defense missile systems although Israel warplanes and missiles continued to claim lives of Palestinians under seven days of bombardments .

IAI ( Israel Aerospace Industries) is state-owned company in Israel.

Israeli warplanes struck Gaza on Friday, dashing international hopes of a ceasefire to end seven days of air strikes.

The Israeli air force bombed around 20 places, killing two Palestinians in a house, and raising the Gaza death toll to at least 414 since last Saturday.

In addition of Gaza bombardments, Israel sealed off the occupied West Bank to prevent entry to Palestinians and deployed more soldiers at checkpoints.

Israeli armoured forces remained massed on the Gaza frontier in preparation for a possible ground invasion, ignoring international calls for a halt to the air strikes.

Some 1,850 people have been wounded in Gaza in the deadliest conflict in four decades.

Mosque bombed

Late on Thursday night, Israeli war planes bombed the Jabalya mosque.

Hamas official Ayman Taha called to avenge the killing of Rayyan. "The blood of Sheikh Nizar Rayyan and the blood of other martyrs will never be wasted and the enemy will pay a heavy price for the crimes it has committed," Taha said.

Two of Rayyan's four wives and seven of his children were killed in the strike on his home in Jebalya refugee camp.

Rayyan had a PhD in Islamic studies and lectured at the Islamic University in the Gaza Strip.

Companies

Turkish Anatolian news agency on Friday quoted executives of Turkey's Undersecretariat for Defense Industries as saying "eleven foreign firms will compete in Turkey's missile tender".

"Not only Turkish but also foreign firms will join the tender for the procurement of low altitude air defense missile systems", AA said.

Eleven foreign companies and 19 Turkish companies are expected to submit bids for the tender. The last bids will be collected on February 19, 2009.

Below are the foreign companies expected to bid for the tender:

-IAI (Israel)
-Cpmiec (China)
-Diehl Defence (Germany)
-Doosan (South Korea)
-Kongsberg (Norway)
-Rafael Advanced Defence Systems Ltd. (Israel)
-Raythoen Company (USA)
-Rosoboronexport (Russia)
-Saab Ekofors Dynamics (Sweden)
-Thales Air Defence Limited (Britain)
-Thales Air Systems (France)

Below are the Turkish firms that have taken tender specifications:

-AKSA Makine Sanayi
-ASELSAN
-Cztech Bilisim Teknolojileri Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S.
-FNSS Savunma Sistemleri
-Havelsan
-Havelsan Teknoloji Radar Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S.
-Mercedes Benz Turk A.S.
-Meteksan Savunma Sanayi
-Mikes Mikrodalga Elektrik Sistemleri
-Milsopft A.S.
-Otokar A.S.
-Roketsan
-Savronik Elektronik Sanayi Ticaret A.S.
-SDT Uzay ve Savunma Teknolojileri
-Selex Komunikasyon A.S.
-TUBITAK
-TUBITAK SAGE
-Vestel Savunma Sanayi
-Yaltes Elektronik ve Bilgi Sistemleri Uretim Sirketi

Güncelleme Tarihi: 02 Ocak 2009, 13:36