Defense Secretary Jim Mattis is raising awareness in the US Congress to allow Turkey to purchase the Lockheed Martin F-35 aircraft. Not allowing the purchase would cause an interruption in the international supply chain with consequent delays and increased costs for aircraft.
"Right now, I oppose Turkey's removal from the F-35 program," Mattis said in a letter to lawmakers who negotiated the 2019 National Defense Programs Authorization Act. Turkey, a NATO ally who has invested $ 1,25 billion in the program since 2002, plans to purchase 100 aircraft.
"If the Turkish supply chain were interrupted today, it would cause a disruption of aircraft production, delaying the delivery of 50-75 F-35s and it would take at least 18-24 months to reorient the parts and make up for lost time."
Pentagon plans include the acquisition of a total of 2.456 F-35s. Allies are expected to purchase hundreds of additional F-35s, and eight nations, including Japan, South Korea, Denmark and Norway, are cost-sharing partners in the program along with the United States.
The reasons behind these congressional hesitations are Turkey's unwelcome activities. The purchase of the Russian S-400 missile system and the detention of the American pastor Andrew Brunson.
Mattis, in the July 7 letter, assured lawmakers that the Trump administration was pressuring Turkey on both issues and that it recognized the concerns of Congress about Turkey's "authoritarian drift and the repercussions on human rights and the rule of law. ".
NATO officials have already warned of "necessary consequences" for Turkey if it were to purchase the S-400, which obviously cannot operate with NATO systems present on Turkish territory.
Turkish officials have threatened retaliation if the United States decides to stop selling the F-35 and defended the choice to buy the Russian S-400 missile defense system as a second option only because NATO allies refused to sell systems of western air defense.
The situation remains fluid and a final decision has not yet been made. The interests of the military industry are likely to bring the issue back into the field of reasonableness and resolution of the issues raised by both sides.