Turkey: How Erdogan wants to steal the secrets of the Greek Aster 30 from the French, as he wanted to do with the Patriot.
In the past days, Turkey’s attempt to acquire the SAMP-T mobile anti-aircraft missile became known.
In fact, there was also a telephone conversation between the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and his French counterpart, Manuel Macron, on this specific issue.
Turkey’s willingness to purchase the Italian-French-made SAMP-T defense system was revealed as early as February 2021 by Sportime.
Turkey is looking for a way to counter the Greek Rafale and Viper, and the country’s problematic air defense does not give it many possibilities.
Thus, the inclusion of the 120 km range SAMP-T in Turkey’s air defense system is one way to protect its airports.
Of course, let’s mention that according to information, Erdogan requested co-production of the SAMP-T, i.e. the ground version of the Aster 30.
Erdogan believes France will let Turkey gain access to critical French technology for the best-in-class missile.
There is no other way to explain the fact that he requested co-production of the system.
Of course, Turkey is trying to convince France to… start business with Ankara, including the French Rafale fighter jets.
Not because it does not need the Turkish money (of course not that its armaments business is going badly) but because Paris does not trust Ankara.
The French know that critical French technology (including SPECTRA, etc.) should not fall into Turkish hands.
