Turkey has revised its plans to expand and upgrade its air force, the country’s Defense Minister Yasar Guler said on Tuesday.
Among the changes is the withdrawal of the acquisition of 79 modernization kits for its F-16C/D fighters, which had been agreed with the United States earlier this year.
Instead, Turkish Aerospaces Industries (TUSAS) will carry out the work of upgrading the aircraft at an appropriate time. Turkey, however, will receive 40 F-16 Block 70s and has already made an initial payment of $1.4 billion to Lockheed Martin.
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Guler also revealed that the United States would be willing to accept Turkey back into the F-35 program.
KAAN fighter reportedly changed US mind
“When the Americans saw that we could build and fly the KAAN [fighter], they changed their minds a bit about the F-35,” the minister told members of parliament.
“Now, they are expressing willingness to provide F-35s. However, no progress has been made. We insist on reclaiming our production share and maintaining our request to acquire F-35s,” Yasar Guler added.
The minister was referring to the KAAN fifth-generation fighter, developed by TUSAS and currently undergoing flight tests. The aircraft is larger than the F-35, but its capabilities are not yet clear.
Turkey had ordered 40 F-35A fighters, but in 2020 the Trump administration vetoed the sale after President Tayyip Erdogan’s government acquired S-400 surface-to-air missile systems from Russia.
