{"id":55222,"date":"2019-04-19T13:00:32","date_gmt":"2019-04-19T13:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2019\/04\/19\/russia-would-be-turkeys-first-best-choice-for-fighter-jets-if-its-f-35-plan-flops\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T00:03:19","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T00:03:19","slug":"russia-would-be-turkeys-first-best-choice-for-fighter-jets-if-its-f-35-plan-flops","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/global\/europe\/2019\/04\/19\/russia-would-be-turkeys-first-best-choice-for-fighter-jets-if-its-f-35-plan-flops\/","title":{"rendered":"Russia would be Turkey\u2019s \u2018first best choice\u2019 for fighter jets if its F-35 plan flops"},"content":{"rendered":"
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As part of an ongoing spat between the U.S. and Turkey, parts deliveries for the F-35 have stopped–and Turkey’s entire participation in the program is at risk.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n

ANKARA, Turkey \u2014 If U.S. officials were to expel Turkey<\/a> from the multinational group that builds the F-35 Lightning II, Turkish defense officials said they likely would pursue Russian fighter jet technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe cannot afford to leave the F-35 not substituted,\u201d a senior military officer told Defense news. He declined to comment on the replacement options, as this would require \u201ctechnological, economical and political deliberations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But a defense procurement official said \u201cgeostrategic assessment\u201d would make Russian options emerge as the natural first replacement. \u201cRussian fighter technology would the first best choice if our American allies<\/a> behaved in an un-allied way and questioned Turkey\u2019s membership in the Joint Strike Fighter program,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Washington has threatened to expel Ankara from the multinational program if Turkey deploys the Russian-made S-400 surface-to-air missile system on its soil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If Turkey accepts the S-400, \u201cno F-35s will ever reach Turkish soil. And Turkish participation in the F-35 program, including manufacturing parts, repairing and servicing the fighters, will be terminated, taking Turkish companies out of the manufacturing and supply chain for the program,\u201d wrote a group of bipartisan lawmakers from the Senate Armed Services Committee and Senate Foreign Relations Committee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier this month, the Pentagon announced a freeze on deliveries and activities with Turkey in relation to the F-35 program over Ankara\u2019s decision to buy the S-400. Turkey insists the first S-400 shipments would arrive in July and the first S-400 system would become operational in September.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Russian S-400 air defence missile systems roll at Red Square during the Victory Day military parade in Moscow on May 9, 2016.\n(KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV\/AFP\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A Turkish presidential source said that potential Turkish-Russian cooperation on fighter technology was \u201cpreliminarily discussed\u201d between their respective defense officials during Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan\u2019s visit to Moscow on April 8.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut \u00c7avusoglu told broadcaster NTV on Apri 10: \u201cThere are F-35[s], but there are also aircraft manufactured in Russia. If we are not able to purchase [the] F-35, Turkey will buy similar aircraft from other countries. And this will continue until we start producing our own fifth-generation fighter jets.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Such a move would make Turkey the only NATO member to simultaneously use the S-400 and Russian fighter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is not a useful dispute for the alliance,\u201d asserted an Ankara-based European Union military attache. \u201cWhat we observe today could push Turkey further into Russia\u2019s military orbit \u2026 and we don\u2019t want that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier this month, Russian Helicopters CEO Andrey Boginsky visited Turkey to discuss the possibility of co-production efforts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, Russia\u2019s isn\u2019t the only alternative for the F-35. In 2015, Turkey\u2019s procurement authorities released a request for information for the TF-X, the country\u2019s indigenous fighter jet program. Sweden\u2019s Saab was one of the bidders to supply know-how for the initial design phase of the program, but Ankara selected Britain\u2019s BAE Systems for that contract.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSaab\u2019s commitment to technology transfer was very generous, but its price was expensive at the time,\u201d a Turkish official recalled. \u201cSaab could now revise its bid and incorporate it into the new [no F-35] situation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another option for Turkey is Airbus, a partner in the Eurofighter program based in the Netherlands and France, the official added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The U.S. has threatened to expel Turkey from the multinational program if it buys the Russian-made S-400 surface-to-air missile 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