President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that the S-400’s purchase results in Turkey’s expulsion from the F-35 program. He also showed leniency in criticizing Turkey’s step of deploying Russian Air Defence system, saying it’s a complex situation” and Turkey was forced into the situation of buying S-400s by his former counterpart Barack Obama.
Washington revealed on Wednesday that it’s going to push Ankara out from the F-35 fighter jet program, a response that had been long threatened and expected after Turkey started getting delivery of U.S.’ rival Russian missile system last week.
The first batch of the S-400 air defense system was delivered to the Murted military airbase northwest of Ankara on Friday, which Washington had long struggled to refrain Turkey from doing so.
“The US and other F-35 partners are aligned in this decision to suspend Turkey from the program and initiate the process to formally remove Turkey from the program,” said by Ellen Lord, the undersecretary of defense for acquisition at the Pentagon.
Turkey’s foreign ministry regarded this move by the U.S as unfair which could damage Washington-Ankara relations.
“We invite the United States to return from this mistake which would open irreparable wounds in strategic relations,” the ministry said following the Pentagon’s announcement.
Lord revealed that transferring the supply chain for the advanced fighter jet by expelling Turkey from production line would cost the U.S between $500m and $600m in non-recurring engineering costs.
Turkey manufactures more than 900 parts of the F-35, she said, mentioning the supply chain’s transition from Turkish to U.S. factories as Turkish suppliers are getting removed.
“Turkey will certainly and regrettably lose jobs and future economic opportunities from this decision,” Lord said. “It will no longer receive more than nine billion dollars in projected work share related to the F-35 over the life of the program.”
Earlier on Wednesday, the White House said in a statement that Turkey’s decision to buy the Russian S-400 air defense system “renders its continued involvement with the F-35 impossible”.
“The F-35 cannot coexist with a Russian intelligence-collection platform that will be used to learn about its advanced capabilities,” according to the White House statement, pointing to the S-400 air defense system as a strategic plan of Moscow to compromise the security of NATO systems and U.S.’ capabilities.
The White House still wants to reduce the aftereffects of Turkey’s decision on the Washington-Ankara relation, stating that Washington still “greatly values” it’s strategic bonding with Ankara.
