Pentagon may consider Turkey rejoining F-35 if it ditches Russian missile system
Defense Secretary Mark Esper said today that the United States would “consider” letting Turkey back into the F-35 program if it got rid of the Russian S-400 system.
Defense Secretary Mark Esper said today the United States would “consider” allowing Turkey back into the F-35 program if Ankara formally abandoned the Russian S-400 system.
In the days leading up to the Donald Trump administration’s decision to kick Turkey out of the fighter jet program in July, after Turkey took in the $2.5 billion S-400, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had insisted that Ankara could duck US sanctions by moving the air defense system out of the country.
On Wednesday, the new Pentagon chief made clear that Turkey would have to choose between Russian and American systems, just days after Al-Monitor reported that the United States had nixed a deal for the rival Patriot missile defense.
“They would have to, again, completely get rid of the S-400 program, completely out of the country and then out of whatever, and then we could consider that,” said Esper. “It’s either the F-35 or the S-400. It’s not both. It’s not park one in the garage and roll the other out. It’s one or the other.”
