Turkey buys Russian missile system, but remains in US programme

Directorate for the Defence Industry head Ismail Demir said today that Turkey continues to produce and sell parts for F-35, even though it is excluded from the programme.

Turkey was excluded from the F-35 aircraft production programme in July last year due to the purchase of the S-400 missile system from Russia. At the time, the White House claimed it was undermining NATO agreements and bilateral agreements.

“> in the United States, for a time, was assumed that nothing would be bought by Turkey for F-35 after March 2020, but such an approach no longer exists,” said Demir, adding that his country remains a “parter loyal” on the F-35 programme.