Turkey F-35 | News & Updates

[Scorpion]

Trump signs defense policy bill suspending sale of F-35 jets to Turkey

US President Donald Trump has approved a defense budget law delaying the delivery of F-35 fighter jets to Turkey.
The $716 billion John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 (NDAA) prohibits the sale of F-35 aicraft to Turkey for 90 days until the Pentagon produces a report on the risks entailed by the fellow NATO member-country’s purchase of the Russian S-400 missile defense system.
Turkey received its first pair of a projected 100 aircraft in June. The jets remain in the US while their Turkish pilots receive training. Delivery will not take place before September 2019.

 

[Indus Falcon]

Mr.Erdogan, time for you to wake up snd smell the coffee - Mend your relationship with KSA, you need strong friends right now.

 

[UAE]

UAE and Saudi Arabia will go for it if the US is to sell those jets. That would be a strong hit to Turkey and a strong boost to the UAE/Saudi air forces capability.

 

[Lieutenant]

Erdogan should cool down and engage in a constructive dialogue with the US. Trump is a businessman any economic war he will undoubtedly win.

 

[Khafee]

Turkey Hints It May Find Russian Substitute for F-35 Jets If US Halts Deliveries
© Sputnik / Sergey Guneev
10.04.2019
ANKARA (Sputnik) - Ankara will find a substitute for the US F-35 fighter jets if the United States refuses to deliver the aircraft to Turkey over the purchase of the Russian S-400 air defence systems, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Wednesday.

"There are F-35, but there are also aircraft manufactured in Russia. If we are not able to purchase F-35, Turkey will buy similar aircraft from other countries. And this will continue until we start producing our own fifth-generation fighter jets," Cavusoglu said as quoted by Turkey's NTV broadcaster.

He added that the United States had made a lot of controversial statements regarding Turkey's future participation in the F-35 program and added that a total of four of about 100 aircraft that the country planned to buy had been received so far.

Earlier in the month, the Pentagon announced that Washington halted deliveries and activities with Turkey on F-35 fighter jet program over Ankara's decision to buy the Russian S-400 air defence systems.

The Russian-Turkish cooperation on S-400 deliveries has been criticised by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the United States, which have cited security concerns and an inability of integration between S-400 and NATO's air defence systems.

READ MORE: US-Turkey F-35 Row Over S-400s: Is Erdogan Checking Trump, NATO's Strength?

Ankara, in its turn, has said that purchase of military equipment is its sovereign affair and ruled out the possibility of abandoning its plans. The first shipment of S-400 air defence systems is expected to be delivered to Ankara in July.

Turkey Hints It May Find Russian Substitute for F-35 Jets If US Halts Deliveries

ANKARA (Sputnik) - Ankara will find a substitute for the US F-35 fighter jets if the United States refuses to deliver the aircraft to Turkey over the purchase of the Russian S-400 air defence systems, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut...

sputniknews.com

 

[Zaslon]

Erdogan is moving closer and closer eastwards and further away from NATO has time moves on. that said, I'm not totally surprised about them not acquiring F-35s due to them having a fuss over Syria, S-400 etc. however I'm not picking sides on this controversial issue, I'd like to point out US is just as guilty as Turkey is. US been arming PKK/YPG and supporting them in Syria (a known enemy to Turkey) and US just agreed to lift an arms embargo against Cyprus.

Erdogan, the other day mentioned if the F-35 failed he would look towards Russia for co-production of the Su-57 to replace the F-35.

 

[AegeanEagle]

There should have never been an arms embargo on Cyprus anyway, it was severely unjust.

 

[Lieutenant]

There should have never been an arms embargo on Cyprus anyway, it was severely unjust.

Who did impose an arms embargo on Cyprus? and why?

 

[Lieutenant]

Turkey hints that it may find a Russian alternative to the F-35 if the United States stops deliveries - World Defense News

Turkey hints that it may find a Russian alternative to the F-35 if the United States stops deliveries.

 

[AegeanEagle]

Who did impose an arms embargo on Cyprus? and why?

After the illegal turkish occupation of the northern 1/3 of Cyprus in 1974, the U.S. administration placed an embargo on weapons sales to turkey because she used American weapons to facilitate the land grab in Cyprus, which of course is counter to international law and treaties signed by turkey and went against UNSC resolutions during their invasion and after. This embargo was lifted in 1978 by Carter. However there was put in place an UNofficial arms embargo on the republic of Cyprus, in the event that they tried to retake what was rightfully theirs ( which IMO was very wrong). The U.S. did this because it was in U.S. interests to support a turkish military presence on the island and it did not want Greece to get involved which, at the time they feared a collapse of the southern tier of NATO due to a possible Greek/Turkish war over Cyprus (the U.S. 6th fleet also prevented Greece from getting involved in 1974 in the hostilities for the same reason) . It was the cold war and the USSR was a real threat.

In 1987 Reagan made it official and placed an arms embargo on Cyprus after it was discovered that the Cyprus National Guard ( it's not really a national guard, they are regular forces, it's only called that due to the constitutional legalities of 1960) had begun re-arming due to the failure of diplomacy to reinstate the status quo pre-July 20th 1974. Cyprus had went on a weapons spending spree and begun purchasing weapons from France, Russia, Greece and Brazil. The first sales I believe were Gazelle Helicopters meant for anti tank duties. Then Greece sold a number of "Leonidas" APC's to Cyprus along with a GRANT of AMX 30's which France gave permission for Greece to give to Cyprus. Then Russia sold heavy numbers of RPG and MANPAD's to Cyprus as well as some towed artillery, then of course Brazil had made some deals with their Cascavel's and a few other armoured carriers/IFV's. Cyprus has a hodge podge of weapons from atleast 10 nations and it's actually quite interesting to what they have accumulated over the years. You can now add Israel to that list too since both those nations are cooperating as though they were brother nations. This is due to the Turks being "secretly" viewed as the main threat to Israel in recent years, according to Israeli sources such as Debkafile. It is an open secret however. This is coupled with the massive fossil fuels found in the eez of Cyprus and Israel and which both nations are trying to exploit in the face of extreme turkish opposition. To make this even more interesting, Exxon/Mobil is involved and Erdogan has said " nothing goes on in the eastern mediterranean with US" and has pledged to prevent this American company from drillings as it had done last year to Italys' ENI company. However the U.S. did show a display last year off of Cyprus to send a message to turkey and turkey backed down, but Erdogan is feeling his oats again.

Cyprus is VITAL for Israeli transportation of the fuels it finds when they are exploited. So now I think it h as been decided in Washington to remove the turkish army from Cyprus and Israel will have a base in the south of the island for "special operations" as was stated in Cypriot and Israeli news sources last month, and both armed forces train together like every few months in both countries. One scenario in training was focused on liberating Greek Cypriot villages in the north of the island. They blatantly made this public. There is no hiding anymore. Trump has decided to lift the embargo on Cyprus. What's going on here is that the U.S. has prepared for it's EXIT from Incirlick airbase in turkey because either turkey is going to throw the U.S. out of it or the U.S. will leave on it's own. This is also why the U.S. is expanding it's other vital bases in Greece, namely Souda bay in Crete ( A major home porting facility for the 6th fleet) and is now using Larissa , in central Greece as it's base of air operations in the Balkans. This began when the turks starting hinting about the status of Incirlick AFB. Also, you may want to check youtube for the latest exercise "Iniochos" in Greece, it is an exercise held annually and Israel is a major participant and Cyprus is there as an observer. It was held last week. I think it is the 4th annual participation by the USAF. I would also like to add that Greece and Israel have been training together very closely as well. It is in Greece where the Israeli's learned how to neutralize the S300 system. There are big changes going on in eastern med.

 

[AegeanEagle]

This one is just a short intro :

 

[Strike Eagle]

what one may not understand this confusing and controversial topic is this.

1. The US did not mind Erdogan doing whatever in Syria fighting the extreme elements what caused us to have hostile relations is the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army engaged our troops near Rojava and when we fired back at them, Turkey got irritated due to "hostilities". there is also the fact we were arming the YPG, I won't deny it of course we armed the Peshmerga and YPG because for 1. we are Anti-Assad that's just obvious and for 2. the Iraqi Security Forces would drop their rifles and abandon vehicles and run back tails between their legs to Baghdad.

2. There is also the Gülen man who resides here in the US which Turkey wants extradited. well ok, but Turkey also went Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, I believe Pakistan as well and a number of countries and basically told them either remove Gülen funded schools or we will quit trading and selling weapons with said countries. If Erdogan is not a dictator or whatever one may call him, why is so worried about Gulen?

3. Turkey is also hostile towards Greece, Israel etc. setting aside emotional feelings towards any country a NATO country is suppose to support one another not threaten or intimidate another. Turkey also threaten to shut down Incirlik airbase on us, so now we are moving equipment and soldiers to bases in Jordan, Greece and back into mainland Europe such as Poland and Germany.

also what another thing people don't understand is this not the first time things went south between the US and Turkey, in 1974 same year the Turks invaded Cyprus, we started a weapons embargo against them however it ended in 1978.

It is not all "just about the S-400" why Turkey is not receiving the F-35.

 

[AegeanEagle]

Yes as you can see I posted alot of what you said above, right before your post.

 

[Khafee]

F-35 jet program will fail without Turkey’s support, President Erdogan says
Tue, Apr 30 2019 • 7:25 AM EDT

David Reid@cnbcdavy

Key Points

• Turkish president says Tuesday that the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter jet program will collapse without Turkey
• NATO member Turkey is attempting to buy Russia’s S-400 missile system as well as the U.S. F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.
• Washington and the Pentagon have halted deliveries of the jets to Turkey unless Ankara backs out of its deal with Moscow.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has claimed that the U.S. F-35 fighter jet project will collapse without his country’s input.

The combat plane, developed by Lockheed Martin and U.S. Department of Defense, is said to be the most expensive weapon ever built with a program price forecast to hit $1.5 trillion by 2070.

Speaking at the 2019 International Defense Industry Fair in Turkey on Tuesday, Erdogan said that an F-35 project without his country is “bound to collapse,” according to Reuters. He added that those in the Pentagon that want to exclude Turkey from the plane’s operation and manufacture should think again.

NATO member Turkey is currently due to receive two of the jets later this year and has more than 100 on order. The country also provides a small number of components that form part of the plane’s manufacture.

But in early April, the United States halted delivery of equipment related to the stealth fighter to Turkey. The move was in direct protest at Ankara’s planned purchase of a Russian missile S-400 defense system.

Washington sees Anakara’s purchase of the missile system as a pivot toward warmer ties with Moscow, as well as a big a risk to the security of the F-35′s technology.

Aviation analyst Justin Bronk of the Royal United Services Institute in London (RUSI) told CNBC Tuesday that Erdogan’s claims were an exaggeration and that the U.S. will not allow the program to fail.

“The future of the U.S. Air Force fighter fleet is bet lock, stock and barrel on the F-35 program. They will make it work,” he said.

Bronk conceded that excluding Turkey would create some supply chain problems, at least in the short term.

“Particularly (given) that spares are already an issue and are hitting readiness rates and impacting costs for the U.S. air force, then needing to find additional capacity for certain components is an issue,” he said by phone.

As it stands now, the unit price for an F-35A — including aircraft, engine and fees — stands at around $90 million. The F-35B and F-35C variants are currently priced at $115 million and $107 million per jet.

Turkey is one of the biggest external customers of the F-35 and Bronk said that losing order numbers will drive up the average unit cost. He added that given how central cost is to discussions around the program Lockheed Martin and the U.S. Air Force will be frustrated by having to exclude its NATO ally.

“This is absolutely not the U.S. joyously seizing on an excuse to get Turkey out of the F-35 program. They are really irritated about having to do this,” he said.

F-35 jet program will fail without Turkey's support, President Erdogan says

NATO member Turkey is attempting to buy Russia's S-400 missile system as well as the U.S. F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

www.cnbc.com

 

[Khafee]

April 29, 2019
Turkey's Kale eyes F-35 options during U.S. spat
Can Sezer


ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish aerospace manufacturer Kale Group said on Monday if disagreements between Ankara and Washington curb parts orders and exclude it from an F-35 project, then any lost sales would be offset by turning to civil aviation.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has not backed down from the planned purchase of a Russian S-400 missile defence system that the United States has said would compromise the security of stealth F-35 fighter jets, which Turkey also plans to buy.

NATO ally Turkey has said it will take delivery of the S-400s in July, even while sources told Reuters earlier this month that Washington had halted delivery of F-35-related equipment to the country, marking the first concrete U.S. step to block its delivery.

“There has been no impact on our business so far,” Kale vice president Osman Okyay told reporters on Monday. “These are large, complex parts and manufacturing continues uninterrupted. We have a five-year backlog of orders.”

Kale Group and its subsidiary manufacture the cockpit and front fuselage parts for the F-35. Kale Pratt & Whitney, a partnership with the Pratt & Whitney division of U.S.-based United Technologies, produces engine parts for the plane.

“Our utmost desire is that Turkey continues to be a part of this project. However we have a plan B if Turkey leaves the project,” Okyay said. “If this were to happen, we’ll aim to offset its impact (on the company) by producing more civil and commercial aviation parts.”

Kale produces parts for both Boeing and Airbus, however Okyay did not elaborate on these businesses specifically.

Washington says the S-400s are incompatible with NATO’s defence network and would pose a threat since S-400s’ radar may learn how to spot and track the F-35 and make it less able to evade Russian weapons in the future.

In March, Reuters reported that Washington was exploring whether it could remove Turkey from F-35 production.

Disagreement over the F-35 is one of a series of diplomatic disputes between the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation members. There are also differences over Turkish demands that the United States extradite Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen, Middle East policy, the war in Syria, and sanctions on Iran.

In 2017, Kale said it would set up a joint venture with Britain’s Rolls-Royce to develop aircraft engines after a UK-Turkish defence deal worth more than 100 million pounds was signed to develop Turkish fighter jets.

But last month Rolls-Royce said it had scaled back efforts to join the Turkish programme and Kale subsequently said it was waiting for Turkey’s defence industry directorate to respond to its final offer for the programme.

“As far as I know, they are looking positively at our offer, but so far they haven’t made a decision,” Okyay said of the directorate.

He said authorities were considering three alternatives for the engine supply of TF-X, a fighter jet in early design stage. An off-the-shelf engine from General Electric or Eurojet was viewed as an interim option, with the Kale engine seen as an intermediate alternative, Okyay added.

Turkey's Kale eyes F-35 options during U.S. spat

Turkish aerospace manufacturer Kale Group said on Monday if disagreements betwee...

uk.reuters.com