Pentagon officials confirmed on Wednesday that Turkey has been removed from the F-35 fighter jet program, despite President Trump complaining about how “unfair” it was to America to have to do so just the day before.
US law established a mechanism for punishing other nations who buy
weapons from Russia, and threatened Turkey time and against for buying
the S-400. Turkey began taking delivery of the S-400, and that set the
US move to ban them from accessing the F-35 jets.
Trump didn’t like this, because the F-35 isn’t exactly flying off the
shelves and Turkey was a potential customer. Undersecretary of Defense
Ellen Lord argued that all the nations partnered on the F-35 are
“aligned in this decision to suspend Turkey.”
Other nations have largely not commented on the matter. The White House
issued a statement saying the F-35 could not coexist with the Russian
S-400 missiles. Lord said shifting the supply chain out of Turkey would
cost $500-$600 million.
Let’s see: Turkey obtains a air defense system that is much less expensive and more effective. AND now they are off the hook on buying a very expensive fighter jet that hasn’t met continually lowered performance specs.
If I were Erdogan I’d start worrying about getting spare parts for my fleet of F-16s.
Why are we doing Turkey such a favor by not taking their money for a sub-standard product such as the F-35? It is like a crooked peddler saying, “Just because you won’t buy my wonderful snake-oil elixir, I won’t let you buy my miracle liver pills either!”
Heh, Turkey gets to save money it can spend on Russian arms. Putin outmaneuvers another US President. That’s really what Trump doesn’t like, just like Obama didn’t like it, and Bush didn’t like it. That’s three Presidents Putin has proven to be smarter than.
Sounds like an ideal solution for anyone signed up to buy F35s but now realising how rubbish they are. Buy some old AK47s from Russia and you’re out of the contract. Sorted.