Turkish Defence Minister Yaşar Güler hinted yesterday at the possibility that the United States may eventually sell F-35 fighters to Ankara, despite White House’s official veto on Turkey following the Turkish government’s purchase of the S-400 missile defence system from Russia.
‘When the Americans saw that we could produce our Kaan fighter jet, they changed their mind. Then they declared that they could sell us the F-35. We have expressed our desire to acquire 40 F-35s,’ Güler said in remarks made to a Turkish parliamentary committee and reported by Turkish media.
‘We insist that our (financial) participation in the production of the F-35 be returned to us,’ Güler added. He acknowledged, however, that for now there has been no progress on a possible purchase of F-35 fighters, of which Turkey was originally intended to acquire – before being excluded from the programme – 100 F-35B fighters for its aircraft carrier fleet, thanks to their ability to take off on short runways and land vertically.
Referring to the issue of the S-400 purchase that prompted the 2019 expulsion from the F-35 programme, Güler said Turkey made several requests at the time to acquire Patriot missile defence systems without receiving a satisfactory response, which eventually led Ankara to purchase the Russian system, which Washington DC considered at the time a threat to the security of the new fighter jet. ‘We had to buy the S-400s. But now (…) the Americans no longer have any problems about the S-400s,’ the minister explained.
Turkey to upgrade its own F-16s
Güler also announced that plans for the US to upgrade a total of 79 F-16 fighters that are part of the Turkish air force have finally been cancelled, and that Turkey will eventually take over the task. ‘Our Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI/TUSAŞ) facilities are capable of upgrading F-16s,’ the minister said.
In addition to a possible purchase of up to 40 F-35 fighters, Turkey has also shown interest in acquiring another 40 Eurofighter aircraft, a consortium consisting of Germany, Spain, Italy and the UK. At a total cost of $5.6 billion, the deal has so far met with German reluctance. In any case, Ankara’s long-term plans are to develop its own fighter aircraft, including the aforementioned Kaan 5th generation fighter or the Hürjet light combat aircraft.
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Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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