The US has decided what to do with the F-35s destined for Turkey, the Department of Defense gave its definitive answer on Monday evening.
The U.S. Air Force will purchase eight F-35A jets originally planned by Lockheed Martin for Turkey for $ 862 million. The agreement also includes six other F-35As already built for Turkey to be assigned to the USAF after making the necessary changes to adapt them to the configuration of the United States.
A defense official told Defense News on Tuesday that the contract change meets the provisions of the defense and spending policy planned for fiscal 2020 (FY2020). “The expense refers to the eight aircraft of the production lot no. 14 originally scheduled to be delivered to Turkey in 2022-23. The other six F-35As refer to those in the FY20 defense budget.
The Pentagon and Lockheed Martin had finalized the agreement for lots 12, 13 and 14 as early as October 2019, setting the price of the units in lot 14 at 77,9 million dollars. Turkey had planned to purchase 100 F-35As but was expelled from the program last July after acquiring the S-400 air defense system from Russia even after repeated warnings from US officials. By that time, Turkey's first F-35s had already rolled off the production line and its pilots and maintainers were already training in the United States alongside American personnel at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona, and Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. .
Since then, six Turkish jets have been stationary in American hangars. Last January, Defense One reported that 24 Turkish F-35s were in production, although from the Pentagon, Ellen Lord had told reporters that Washington and Ankara had not yet reached an agreement.
In the FY20 of the National Defense Authorization Act, Congress granted the Pentagon permission to spend up to $ 30 million to fly the first six Turkish F-35s to a location where they could be stored until the department worked out a plan for their use.