‘No other options’: US will deliver F-35s, while Turkey will get S-400… and S-500, Erdogan says
Published time: 19 May, 2019 01:02 Edited time: 19 May, 2019 06:44
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© Sputnik / Vitaliy Ankov
“We’re done with the S-400. There is absolutely no question of stepping back on the S-400. It is a defense system, not an attack system,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday during a televised question and answer session with university students in Istanbul, adding that the first deliveries of the Russian anti-aircraft weapon system are expected in July.
Explaining that Russian military hardware is offered on “very favorable terms” and with no strings attached, Erdogan said that Ankara is also potentially seeking to acquire the next generation S-500 systems – or even engage in co-production partnership – once Russia completes development of its newest mobile surface-to-air missile system.
Also on rt.com Turkey will look for 'best technology' elsewhere if US blocks F-35 transfer
The $2.5 billion defense deal with Moscow enraged Washington, which threatened its NATO ally with all kinds of sanctions while offering to substitute the Russian systems with Patriot batteries – a carrot Ankara has been reluctant to accept. At the same time, Washington threatened to block the delivery of 100 F-35 jets purchased by Turkey, and terminate its participation in the F-35 program. Ankara, having invested $1.25 billion in the trillion-dollar program, is a vital partner, producing parts of fuselage, landing gear, and cockpit displays for the jets.
Also on rt.com ‘We aren’t slaves’: Erdogan defies US pressure over S-400 deal with Russia, says S-500 may follow
Ankara has repeatedly slammed Washington’s coercive diplomacy, saying that Turkey is not a “slave” dancing to the US’ tune when it comes to protecting the nation’s sovereignty. Nevertheless, Erdogan said he has no doubts that the stealth jets will be delivered.
“They [the US] are passing the ball around in the midfield now, showing some reluctance,” the president said. “But sooner or later, we will receive the F-35s. Not delivering them is not an option.”
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Turkey will look for 'best technology' elsewhere if US blocks F-35 transfer
Published time: 24 Apr, 2019 00:09 Edited time: 24 Apr, 2019 09:51
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FILE PHOTO: A Lockheed Martin F-35 aircraft © REUTERS/Axel Schmidt
Speaking to media after a reception at the Turkish Grand National Assembly on Tuesday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that his country might consider other options if Washington follows through with its threats and leave it without F-35 stealth fighter jets.
"We are already partners in the F-35 manufacturing program, we participate in this project, we have paid the necessary amount," Cavusoglu said.
"There are currently no problems with this. But in the worst case scenario, we will have to satisfy our need in another place, where the best technologies will be offered," he added.
Also on rt.com Turkey can buy Su-35s from Moscow if US doesn’t ship promised F-35s – military analyst
Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar hinted that Ankara will put a "plan B" into action in case the deal with the US falls apart.
"We have short-term, medium-term and long-term plans," the defense minister said.
The US has threatened to freeze the delivery and terminate Turkey's participation in the F-35 program altogether if it does not scrap the deal for the purchase of Russia's S-400 air defense complexes, while voicing concerns that it can harm NATO's interoperability and compromise the security of the F-35s. US senators floated the idea of imposing sanctions on Turkey under the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), if it does not abandon the Russia-made complexes.
READ MORE: ‘Nothing to do with NATO or F-35’: US pressure over S-400 is about Turkey’s sovereignty – Erdogan
Turkey insists that the surface-to-air missile defense system poses no risk to either the fighter jet program or the NATO systems. To alleviate Washington's concerns, Turkey proposed creating a technical committee that would review possible security threats from the S-400. However, the US so far has shown no interest in the proposal.
Ankara has dismissed the US' ultimatum as an attempt to browbeat it into compliance. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan argued last month that the US opposition to the S-400 deal has "nothing to do with ether NATO and the F-35 nor the security of the US," but stems from Turkey's pursuit of an independent policy in the region, particularly in Syria.
Earlier this month, Cavusoglu indicated that Ankara might buy even more military equipment from Russia, including an alternative to the F-35 jets if the US deliveries are stalled.
"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," Cavusoglu said.
So far, four out of 100 F-35 jets have been delivered to Turkey and four Turkish pilots are receiving training in the US.
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‘We aren’t slaves’: Erdogan defies US pressure over S-400 deal with Russia, says S-500 may follow
Published time: 7 Mar, 2019 01:14 Edited time: 7 Mar, 2019 10:28
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© Sputnik / Vladislav Sergienko
Ankara’s resilience against US pressure over the purchase of the S-400 systems remains rock solid, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan clarified on Wednesday, stressing that Turkey is a sovereign nation which has the right to choose its trade partners and arms suppliers.
“It’s done. There can never be a turning back. This would not be ethical, it would be immoral. Nobody should ask us to lick up what we spat,” Erdogan told Kanal 24.
Also on rt.com Talks on Patriot missiles get rocky, no step back from deal with Russia – Erdogan
Claiming the need to protect NATO interoperability and to conceal the technical characteristics of US hardware from the Russians, and specifically with the Lockheed Martin F-35s, Washington has been using coercive diplomacy against Ankara, trying to force it to back down from its S-400 deal. The US insists Turkey should instead spend $3.5 billion on US Patriot missiles, an offer Ankara has repeatedly turned down in the past but is now vaguely considering if the conditions were suitable.
Also on rt.com Pentagon threatens Turkey with ‘grave consequences’ for buying Russian S-400
The S-400 remains “a problem to all of our aircraft, but specifically the F-35,” Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Wednesday arguing that the US should stop the stealth fighter transfer to Turkey and “forfeit” sales of other military technology to its NATO ally, if Ankara deploys the Russian-made defensive weaponry as expected in July. Earlier this week a Pentagon spokesman warned of “grave consequences” and of “broader implications" unless Turkey cancels the purchase.
https://www.rt.com/news/455113-turkey-su35-russia-remarks/
Turkey can buy Su-35s from Moscow if US doesn’t ship promised F-35s – military analyst
Published time: 29 Mar, 2019 23:53 Edited time: 30 Mar, 2019 08:57
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F-35 (L) and Sukhoi Su-35 (R) © REUTERS/Amir Cohen; Wikipedia/Rulexip
"If the US fails to ship the jets to Turkey, Ankara can certainly buy the Su-35s from Russia instead," Viktor Litovkin, a military analyst with the Moscow-based TASS news agency, told RT.
Politicians in Washington have been trying to pressure key NATO ally Turkey to drop its deal to buy S-400 anti-air missile defense systems from Moscow. This week, US senators tabled a draft bill calling for a ban on the transfer of 100 F-35s, previously agreed with Turkey, unless it guarantees that it won't buy weapons from Russia. The delivery of the US-made planes was already effectively blocked by the Senate last year.
Also on rt.com US senators draft bill to stop transfer of F-35 jets to Turkey unless it ditches S-400 deal
The Turkish leadership, meanwhile, strongly defended its right to buy arms from whoever it wants, and repeatedly reaffirmed that it will stick to the S-400 contract.
The attempts to pressure Ankara are "a sign of unfair competition" the US employs to "steamroll" the sale of its own anti-air missile defense system, the MIM-104 Patriot Pac 3, Litovkin said. He believes that Washington is likely to continue blackmailing its ally for as long as it can, but at some point will be forced to concede and deliver the promised jets to Turkey.
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https://www.rt.com/news/451622-erdogan-patriot-talks-conditions/
Talks on Patriot missiles get rocky, no step back from deal with Russia – Erdogan
Published time: 16 Feb, 2019 13:10 Edited time: 18 Feb, 2019 10:59
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MIM-104 Patriot © AFP / Jack Guez
US officials "can't say anything [concrete] about the issues of joint production and loans" which, along with early delivery, Turkey considers "important" conditions for the deal to be made, Erdogan told reporters on Saturday.
"Under such circumstances, we can't take a step" to buy the US-made MIM-104 Patriot surface-to-air missile systems, he explained.
Talks of acquiring Patriot systems from the US have been in the works for years, but the negotiations have stalled several times. They were reignited last fall after Turkish officials indicated that they were once again open to that option.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan © Reuters / Umit Bektas
It would be extremely difficult for Washington to agree to share the Patriot technology with Turkey, because the system itself "is closely tied to US satellites and command centers," military expert Yuri Knutov told RT.
Read more
Erdogan hopes for ‘joint production’ of S-500 with Russia, even as S-400 is still being delivered
Turkey signed a purchase agreement despite immense pressure from its ally Washington, whose politicians had suggested that the purchase of Russian-made arms would undermine security and interoperability within NATO. The conflict over the issue led US lawmakers to pass a bill effectively blocking the delivery of 100 F-35 fighter jets to Turkey.
US officials later reportedly attempted to tie the Patriot deal to scrapping the S-400 agreement – another condition that Turkey strongly rebuffed.
The most recent push to dissuade allies from dealing with Moscow came from US Vice President Mike Pence. "We have also made it clear that we will not stand idly by while NATO allies purchase weapons from our adversaries," he told the audience at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday. "We cannot ensure the defense of the West if our allies grow dependent on the East."
Speaking to reporters the on same day, Erdogan reiterated that there is "no walking back" from the contract with Russia, and that the two sides are working to start the deployment of the S-400s to Turkey in July. Some 55 percent of their cost is set to be covered by a loan that Moscow is providing to Ankara. The offer was made "on very reasonable terms," the Turkish leader said back in June.
Turkey is also still interested in getting S-500s – the more advanced iteration of the S-400s – sometime in the future, Erdogan stated. He earlier suggested that if such a deal were to be struck, it should be a joint production.
https://www.rt.com/news/458315-russia-turkey-su57-f35/
Russia ready to replace American F-35s with own Su-57s if Ankara’s deal with US fails
Published time: 3 May, 2019 16:52 Edited time: 4 May, 2019 08:16
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A Sukhoi Su-57 multi-role fighter during the rehearsal of the Victory Parade flyovers in Moscow. © Sputnik / Iliya Pitalev
Sukhoi’s “fifth-generation Russian fighter jets [Su-57s] have outstanding qualities, and show promise for export,” Sergey Chemezov, head of a Russia’s state-owned defense conglomerate, Rostec, told Anadolu on Thursday.
Moscow is “ready to cooperate” if Ankara shows interest in purchasing the Russian planes, he added.
The official hinted that Russia may greenlight the potential new deal if Turkey ditches the F-35 program with the Americans – a prospect which has generated intense speculation in recent weeks.
Washington initially agreed to sell Ankara 100 of its F-35 fighter jets, produced by Lockheed Martin and valued at $100 million each, but later halted delivery.
The future of the perennial cooperation is up in the air as the Pentagon says that the F-35 deal is “incompatible” with Turkey’s plans to buy S-400 air defense systems from Moscow.
Turkey in turn insists that the Russian surface-to-air anti-missile systems pose no threat to NATO systems and has indicated that it will be looking for a “plan B” if the deal with US falls apart.
Also on rt.com Turkey will look for 'best technology' elsewhere if US blocks F-35 transfer
Ankara, being a F-35 key buyer, is also manufacturing parts for the aircraft and has invested $1.25 billion to date in the project. Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan asserted that the whole F-35 program is “bound to collapse” without Turkish input.
Meanwhile, Chemezov said Russia is set to complete its S-400 deliveries, under the 2017 deal, by the end of this year and suggested that Turkey may be interested in the new-generation S-500 system which would be “without equal throughout the world.”
Su-57, Russia’s newest and only 5th generation supersonic stealth fighter jet made its maiden flight in 2010 and, since then, has been deployed for an anti-terrorist mission in Syria.
Also on rt.com Russia’s 5th-generation fighter jet Su-57 offers huge export potential – trade minister
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Published time: 19 May, 2019 01:02 Edited time: 19 May, 2019 06:44
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© Sputnik / Vitaliy Ankov
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“We’re done with the S-400. There is absolutely no question of stepping back on the S-400. It is a defense system, not an attack system,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday during a televised question and answer session with university students in Istanbul, adding that the first deliveries of the Russian anti-aircraft weapon system are expected in July.
Explaining that Russian military hardware is offered on “very favorable terms” and with no strings attached, Erdogan said that Ankara is also potentially seeking to acquire the next generation S-500 systems – or even engage in co-production partnership – once Russia completes development of its newest mobile surface-to-air missile system.
Also on rt.com Turkey will look for 'best technology' elsewhere if US blocks F-35 transfer
The $2.5 billion defense deal with Moscow enraged Washington, which threatened its NATO ally with all kinds of sanctions while offering to substitute the Russian systems with Patriot batteries – a carrot Ankara has been reluctant to accept. At the same time, Washington threatened to block the delivery of 100 F-35 jets purchased by Turkey, and terminate its participation in the F-35 program. Ankara, having invested $1.25 billion in the trillion-dollar program, is a vital partner, producing parts of fuselage, landing gear, and cockpit displays for the jets.
Also on rt.com ‘We aren’t slaves’: Erdogan defies US pressure over S-400 deal with Russia, says S-500 may follow
Ankara has repeatedly slammed Washington’s coercive diplomacy, saying that Turkey is not a “slave” dancing to the US’ tune when it comes to protecting the nation’s sovereignty. Nevertheless, Erdogan said he has no doubts that the stealth jets will be delivered.
“They [the US] are passing the ball around in the midfield now, showing some reluctance,” the president said. “But sooner or later, we will receive the F-35s. Not delivering them is not an option.”
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https://www.rt.com/news/457370-f35-jets-turkey-alternatives/
Turkey will look for 'best technology' elsewhere if US blocks F-35 transfer
Published time: 24 Apr, 2019 00:09 Edited time: 24 Apr, 2019 09:51
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FILE PHOTO: A Lockheed Martin F-35 aircraft © REUTERS/Axel Schmidt
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Speaking to media after a reception at the Turkish Grand National Assembly on Tuesday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that his country might consider other options if Washington follows through with its threats and leave it without F-35 stealth fighter jets.
"We are already partners in the F-35 manufacturing program, we participate in this project, we have paid the necessary amount," Cavusoglu said.
"There are currently no problems with this. But in the worst case scenario, we will have to satisfy our need in another place, where the best technologies will be offered," he added.
Also on rt.com Turkey can buy Su-35s from Moscow if US doesn’t ship promised F-35s – military analyst
Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar hinted that Ankara will put a "plan B" into action in case the deal with the US falls apart.
"We have short-term, medium-term and long-term plans," the defense minister said.
The US has threatened to freeze the delivery and terminate Turkey's participation in the F-35 program altogether if it does not scrap the deal for the purchase of Russia's S-400 air defense complexes, while voicing concerns that it can harm NATO's interoperability and compromise the security of the F-35s. US senators floated the idea of imposing sanctions on Turkey under the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), if it does not abandon the Russia-made complexes.
READ MORE: ‘Nothing to do with NATO or F-35’: US pressure over S-400 is about Turkey’s sovereignty – Erdogan
Turkey insists that the surface-to-air missile defense system poses no risk to either the fighter jet program or the NATO systems. To alleviate Washington's concerns, Turkey proposed creating a technical committee that would review possible security threats from the S-400. However, the US so far has shown no interest in the proposal.
Ankara has dismissed the US' ultimatum as an attempt to browbeat it into compliance. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan argued last month that the US opposition to the S-400 deal has "nothing to do with ether NATO and the F-35 nor the security of the US," but stems from Turkey's pursuit of an independent policy in the region, particularly in Syria.
Earlier this month, Cavusoglu indicated that Ankara might buy even more military equipment from Russia, including an alternative to the F-35 jets if the US deliveries are stalled.
"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," Cavusoglu said.
So far, four out of 100 F-35 jets have been delivered to Turkey and four Turkish pilots are receiving training in the US.
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https://www.rt.com/news/453206-s400-deal-erdogan-slave/
‘We aren’t slaves’: Erdogan defies US pressure over S-400 deal with Russia, says S-500 may follow
Published time: 7 Mar, 2019 01:14 Edited time: 7 Mar, 2019 10:28
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© Sputnik / Vladislav Sergienko
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Ankara’s resilience against US pressure over the purchase of the S-400 systems remains rock solid, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan clarified on Wednesday, stressing that Turkey is a sovereign nation which has the right to choose its trade partners and arms suppliers.
“It’s done. There can never be a turning back. This would not be ethical, it would be immoral. Nobody should ask us to lick up what we spat,” Erdogan told Kanal 24.
We’re an independent country, not slaves.
The fuss over the Russian deal is now even forcing Turkey to consider upgrading to the next-generation of Russian air defense systems, the S-500, once it enters Russian military service sometime in 2020, Erdogan said.Also on rt.com Talks on Patriot missiles get rocky, no step back from deal with Russia – Erdogan
Claiming the need to protect NATO interoperability and to conceal the technical characteristics of US hardware from the Russians, and specifically with the Lockheed Martin F-35s, Washington has been using coercive diplomacy against Ankara, trying to force it to back down from its S-400 deal. The US insists Turkey should instead spend $3.5 billion on US Patriot missiles, an offer Ankara has repeatedly turned down in the past but is now vaguely considering if the conditions were suitable.
Also on rt.com Pentagon threatens Turkey with ‘grave consequences’ for buying Russian S-400
The S-400 remains “a problem to all of our aircraft, but specifically the F-35,” Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Wednesday arguing that the US should stop the stealth fighter transfer to Turkey and “forfeit” sales of other military technology to its NATO ally, if Ankara deploys the Russian-made defensive weaponry as expected in July. Earlier this week a Pentagon spokesman warned of “grave consequences” and of “broader implications" unless Turkey cancels the purchase.
https://www.rt.com/news/455113-turkey-su35-russia-remarks/
Turkey can buy Su-35s from Moscow if US doesn’t ship promised F-35s – military analyst
Published time: 29 Mar, 2019 23:53 Edited time: 30 Mar, 2019 08:57
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F-35 (L) and Sukhoi Su-35 (R) © REUTERS/Amir Cohen; Wikipedia/Rulexip
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"If the US fails to ship the jets to Turkey, Ankara can certainly buy the Su-35s from Russia instead," Viktor Litovkin, a military analyst with the Moscow-based TASS news agency, told RT.
The US will end up losing the arms market in Turkey should that happen
Both aircraft have comparable characteristics, Litovkin said, adding that Moscow wouldn't risk leaking sensitive military technology because the jet's software is hard to crack. It would not require much effort to smoothly integrate the planes into the Turkish military either.Politicians in Washington have been trying to pressure key NATO ally Turkey to drop its deal to buy S-400 anti-air missile defense systems from Moscow. This week, US senators tabled a draft bill calling for a ban on the transfer of 100 F-35s, previously agreed with Turkey, unless it guarantees that it won't buy weapons from Russia. The delivery of the US-made planes was already effectively blocked by the Senate last year.
Also on rt.com US senators draft bill to stop transfer of F-35 jets to Turkey unless it ditches S-400 deal
The Turkish leadership, meanwhile, strongly defended its right to buy arms from whoever it wants, and repeatedly reaffirmed that it will stick to the S-400 contract.
The attempts to pressure Ankara are "a sign of unfair competition" the US employs to "steamroll" the sale of its own anti-air missile defense system, the MIM-104 Patriot Pac 3, Litovkin said. He believes that Washington is likely to continue blackmailing its ally for as long as it can, but at some point will be forced to concede and deliver the promised jets to Turkey.
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https://www.rt.com/news/451622-erdogan-patriot-talks-conditions/
Talks on Patriot missiles get rocky, no step back from deal with Russia – Erdogan
Published time: 16 Feb, 2019 13:10 Edited time: 18 Feb, 2019 10:59
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MIM-104 Patriot © AFP / Jack Guez
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US officials "can't say anything [concrete] about the issues of joint production and loans" which, along with early delivery, Turkey considers "important" conditions for the deal to be made, Erdogan told reporters on Saturday.
"Under such circumstances, we can't take a step" to buy the US-made MIM-104 Patriot surface-to-air missile systems, he explained.
Talks of acquiring Patriot systems from the US have been in the works for years, but the negotiations have stalled several times. They were reignited last fall after Turkish officials indicated that they were once again open to that option.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan © Reuters / Umit Bektas
It would be extremely difficult for Washington to agree to share the Patriot technology with Turkey, because the system itself "is closely tied to US satellites and command centers," military expert Yuri Knutov told RT.
It will be a complete loss of sovereignty over the weapon. In practice, it will be operated by Turkish officers, but controlled by the Americans. It's the specifics of the Patriot system.
Erdogan signaled that negotiations had hit rocky ground as he was returning from Sochi, Russia, where he met with President Vladimir Putin. Among others things, the leaders discussed Syria and the recent deal for Ankara to buy Russian S-400 air defense systems.Read more
Erdogan hopes for ‘joint production’ of S-500 with Russia, even as S-400 is still being delivered Turkey signed a purchase agreement despite immense pressure from its ally Washington, whose politicians had suggested that the purchase of Russian-made arms would undermine security and interoperability within NATO. The conflict over the issue led US lawmakers to pass a bill effectively blocking the delivery of 100 F-35 fighter jets to Turkey.
US officials later reportedly attempted to tie the Patriot deal to scrapping the S-400 agreement – another condition that Turkey strongly rebuffed.
The most recent push to dissuade allies from dealing with Moscow came from US Vice President Mike Pence. "We have also made it clear that we will not stand idly by while NATO allies purchase weapons from our adversaries," he told the audience at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday. "We cannot ensure the defense of the West if our allies grow dependent on the East."
Speaking to reporters the on same day, Erdogan reiterated that there is "no walking back" from the contract with Russia, and that the two sides are working to start the deployment of the S-400s to Turkey in July. Some 55 percent of their cost is set to be covered by a loan that Moscow is providing to Ankara. The offer was made "on very reasonable terms," the Turkish leader said back in June.
Turkey is also still interested in getting S-500s – the more advanced iteration of the S-400s – sometime in the future, Erdogan stated. He earlier suggested that if such a deal were to be struck, it should be a joint production.
https://www.rt.com/news/458315-russia-turkey-su57-f35/
Russia ready to replace American F-35s with own Su-57s if Ankara’s deal with US fails
Published time: 3 May, 2019 16:52 Edited time: 4 May, 2019 08:16
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A Sukhoi Su-57 multi-role fighter during the rehearsal of the Victory Parade flyovers in Moscow. © Sputnik / Iliya Pitalev
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Sukhoi’s “fifth-generation Russian fighter jets [Su-57s] have outstanding qualities, and show promise for export,” Sergey Chemezov, head of a Russia’s state-owned defense conglomerate, Rostec, told Anadolu on Thursday.
Moscow is “ready to cooperate” if Ankara shows interest in purchasing the Russian planes, he added.
The official hinted that Russia may greenlight the potential new deal if Turkey ditches the F-35 program with the Americans – a prospect which has generated intense speculation in recent weeks.
Washington initially agreed to sell Ankara 100 of its F-35 fighter jets, produced by Lockheed Martin and valued at $100 million each, but later halted delivery.
The future of the perennial cooperation is up in the air as the Pentagon says that the F-35 deal is “incompatible” with Turkey’s plans to buy S-400 air defense systems from Moscow.
Turkey in turn insists that the Russian surface-to-air anti-missile systems pose no threat to NATO systems and has indicated that it will be looking for a “plan B” if the deal with US falls apart.
Also on rt.com Turkey will look for 'best technology' elsewhere if US blocks F-35 transfer
Ankara, being a F-35 key buyer, is also manufacturing parts for the aircraft and has invested $1.25 billion to date in the project. Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan asserted that the whole F-35 program is “bound to collapse” without Turkish input.
Meanwhile, Chemezov said Russia is set to complete its S-400 deliveries, under the 2017 deal, by the end of this year and suggested that Turkey may be interested in the new-generation S-500 system which would be “without equal throughout the world.”
Su-57, Russia’s newest and only 5th generation supersonic stealth fighter jet made its maiden flight in 2010 and, since then, has been deployed for an anti-terrorist mission in Syria.
Also on rt.com Russia’s 5th-generation fighter jet Su-57 offers huge export potential – trade minister
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