KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian company, G7 Aerospace Sdn Bhd, signed an Industrial Collaboration Programme (ICP) agreement with Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) on ANKA Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) at the recent 16th International Defence Industry Fair (IDEF'23) in Istanbul, Turkiye.

TAI was represented by its Chief Executive Officer Prof Temel Kotil while G7 Aerospace was represented by its Managing Director Datuk Ir Kamarulzaman Zainal.

When met after the event, Kamarulzaman said the agreement will enable TAI to implement ICP projects following the government's purchase of TAI's ANKA UAS for the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF).

"We are looking at up to US$5 million worth of services that we (G7 Aerospace) are going to provide," he said adding that this agreement is preamble to a contract to be signed between both companies in Kuala Lumpur end of this month.

The ANKA medium-altitude, long-endurance (MALE) unmanned aerial vehicles supply contract was inked between Malaysia's Defence Ministry and TAI during the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition 2023 (LIMA '23) in May.

According to Kamarulzaman, eleven projects with a total ICP value equivalent to the supply contract value will be implemented by TAI and managed by G7 Aerospace, making it part of local content.

Meanwhile, G7 Aerospace also signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with another major Turkish defence company Havelsan at IDEF'23 to collaborate on Avionics Depot Level Maintenance (DLM).

Kamarulzaman said this cooperation is to jointly support legacy aircraft currently operated by the Malaysian Armed Forces.

"Both companies will work in partnership on component level repair, modification and upgrade of aircraft avionics," he said.

Ranked as the world's fourth largest global defence show, IDEF'23 was held from July 25 to 28, and displayed land vehicles, weapons, simulators, radars, sonars, naval platform solutions, aviation systems, missiles, logistic vehicles, supply equipment, and security systems.

BERNAMA, along with other seven media organisations from Malaysia and Indonesia, was invited to the biennial event by TAI.

-- BERNAMA