( KWIC Dec.17 Toronto ) The source from the Turkish state-owned Roketsan Co. has recently indicated to the public that fifty experts of rocket technology were sent to Roketsan Co. by China National Precision Machinery Import and Export Corporation in November. They initially plan to stay there for at least half a year to help Turkey develop the WS1 rocket weapon system and to transfer the Chinese manufacturing technology to Turkey. According to the Headquarters of the General Staff of the Turkish army, Turkey has decided to establish a special military unit on the border and along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea and to deploy the "specially upgraded Chinese-made missiles" in these areas. This shows that cooperation may be underway between China and Turkey on the installation of the guiding system in the shell of the WS1 rocket system in order to make it a short-range ground-to-ground missile.In October of 1996, Turkey signed an agreement with China on the cooperative production and purchase of the WS1 rocket guns that had a launch range of eighty kilometers. According to the plan, Turkey would purchase from China a quadruple-load WS1 rocket gun and the other five rocket guns would be jointly produced by the two countries. In the meantime, China would transfer its manufacturing technology to Turkey. The total manufacturing cost for the six rocket guns and the cost for the technical transfer involve 150 million US dollars. With a multi-barrel launch system and the maximum launch range of eighty kilometers, the WS1 rocket gun can be carried by motor vehicles. It fills the range gap between the artilleries and the ground-to-ground tactical missiles.
The important significance of the above exchange between China and Turkey is, first of all, that it is the first time for the Chinese military weapons to enter the market of a NATO member country. It marks the progress China has made in its effort to sell its military weapons to the Middle East. Secondly, in 1994, both China and the USA signed the "Agreement on the Prevention of the Proliferation of Missile Technology" which bans the export of the ground-to-ground missiles with the launch range of over 300 kilometers and prohibits the transfer of its technology. The export of the WS1 rocket guns does not violate the above mutual understanding reached between China and the USA. However, the transformation of the ground-to-ground rockets into the ground-to-ground missiles contributes to the further proliferation of the ballistic missile technology.
In recent years, China has engaged in the development of the long-range ground-to-ground rockets. WS1B came into being as a result of the upgrading on the basis of the WS1. With an increased launch range of 180 kilometers, the WS1B has become the rocket gun that has the longest launch range in the world. Such a long-range rocket as the WS1B is quite attractive to those countries that wish to obtain the ground-to-ground missiles but are restricted by the "Agreement on the Prevention of the Proliferation of Missile Technology". This is all because the WS1B has a great potential for itself to be transformed into the short-range ground-to-ground missile. Much Earlier, China exerted pressure on the USA by exporting to Pakistan and some other countries the M11 ground-to-ground missiles that had the launch range of over 300 kilometers. At that time, China also played the game of "proliferating the massive distraction weapons" to put a check on the US arms sales to Taiwan.
Finally, as a NATO member country, Turkey owns a certain level of Western military industrial technology. The Roketsan Co., which is authorized to produce the WS1, also owns the technology for the production of weapons in the NATO version. Therefore, the cooperation and exchange between China and Turkey may find an even broader vista in the future.
