F-35
Michael Peck, National Interest: Could One of America's Allies Take Down the F-35 Program?
What does America need to save its troubled F-35 stealth fighter?
Turkey, that’s what.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan recently warned that the multinational F-35 program, of which Turkey is a member, would fail if Turkey were excluded. Turkey is facing sanctions, including being dropped from the F-35 program if it goes ahead with purchasing Russia’s S-400 anti-aircraft missile system, which has raised Washington’s fears that F-35 secrets might be leaked to Russia. The U.S. has stopped shipping equipment to Turkey for that nation’s planned purchase of 100 F-35s, while the first two aircraft officially delivered to Turkey are still in the United States.
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WNU Editor: Turkey .... when given the choice by the U.S. and NATO .... made the decision that Russia's S-400 anti-missile/aircraft platform is more important to their national security needs than the F-35. And while I can understand Turkey's position that they should be the ones to decide on what military systems they should buy, being in an alliance means making group decisions over an individual one. As for the decision to ban Turkey from buying the F-35 fighter jet .... it is going to cause production delays and it will increase the overall jet's cost. But this is all temporary. Alternative suppliers will be found, and the production of the fighter jet will recover. The big loser will be Turkey. Manufacturers do not want to invest and build a plant in a country or engage with a country's manufacturers that may face future restrictions and bans. Bottom line. Turkey is going to regret this decision years from now.