FYI guys this article is partially BS because the Russians never offered S-400... S-400 isn't even cleared for export yet, and it certainly didn't participate in live fire trials in turkey
It could be misprint but it doesn't diminish the HQ 9 effectiveness . No one can gamble when it come to the security of a Nation and Turkey is no exception. Nothing but the best will do. Politic doesn't even come into consideration.
So I would say the order of importance is more like Spec(performance)->money-> politic. HQ 9 win the competition fair and square. It is rare that we see open and fair competition between Chinese defense industry and their counterpart. This one is the only one I remember in recent year.Most of the time China was barred from even entering the competition
Let see what is HQ 9 up against. I repost Xinhui post in worldaffair board back in 2009
Lockheed Martin, the world's largest defense contractor, is teaming up with Raytheon in Turkey's tender for the acquisition of long-range missiles and hoping to become the company that will ultimately supply Turkey with what it says is the ultimate line of defense against enemy airborne threats: the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC 3) missile defense system.
However, the challenges posed -- not only by the effects of the ongoing economic crisis and the possible restructuring of defense budgets, but also by competition from countries not listed amongst the US's allies -- represent significant obstacles to negotiations.
Having admitted to the media on a number of occasions that Turkey currently has no defense against ballistic missiles, Undersecretariat for the Defense Industry (SSM) head Murad Bayar has said that a request for proposal (RFP) will soon be issued for the direct purchase of a long-range air and missile defense system intended to counter both missiles and aircraft. The project, valued at some $4 billion, will include the purchase of about 12 systems and follows a request for information (RFI) initially issued in March 2007. Turkey plans to announce the winner of the project by the end of 2009.
Lockheed Martin says the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC 3) missile defense system is the ultimate line of defense against enemy airborne threats.
According to Dennis Cavin, vice president of Lockheed Martin's business development for missiles and fire control department, the RFP has already gone out. He reported that a couple of weeks ago, when Turkey issued the RFP, it went not only to US companies, but also to Russian and Chinese companies. Both letters of request (LOR) and letters of offers and acceptance (LOA) were reported as having been submitted.
While US companies Lockheed Martin and Raytheon have jointly offered a combination of PAC-3 and PAC-2 low-to-high-altitude surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) to be purchased through US foreign military sales (FMS) credits, the China National Precision Machinery Import and Export Corporation (CPMIEC) has offered the HQ-9 (reported export designation FD-2000) air-defense system. Turkey is hoping Russia will offer its more advanced S-400 defense system, which many suspect of having been manufactured with much Chinese input.
However, Washington has been pressing Ankara to consider potential NATO interoperability problems that could occur should Turkey opt for a non-Western solution.
Offsetting, the process of maximizing domestic input into defense expenditures, has been set at 50 percent by the Turkish authorities and offset negotiations are said to have begun between Raytheon and Turkish companies for the possible procurement of missile defense systems.
