The U.S. decided to stop the supplies of details for the F-53 fighter to Turkey due to the plans of Ankara to purchase the Russian S-400 anti-aircraft weapon system as Reuters reported.
“U.S. officials told their Turkish counterparts they will not receive further shipments of F-35 related equipment needed to prepare for the arrival of the stealthy jet,” the message said.
The U.S. offered Turkey to buy Patriot system instead of S-400. According to the agency, Ankara was interested in the offer but decided not to refuse from S-400 purchase.
“Pending an unequivocal Turkish decision to forgo delivery of the S-400, deliveries and activities associated with the stand-up of Turkey’s F-35 operational capability have been suspended,” Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Mike Andrews, a Defense Department spokesman, said.
The U.S. warned Turkey many times that the Russian S-400 system endangers F-35 safety produced by Lockheed Martin. Ankara is the partner of the creation of the plane but it refused to cancel its decision.
As it was reported earlier, Russia and Turkey signed an agreement on the supply of S-400 missile system. Also, it is planned to get the joint production going. The United States criticized Turkey’s intention to buy the S-400 missile systems from Russia.
