Turkey paid roughly $1.3 to $1.4 billion for F-35 jets and raised the prospect of their delivery. Turkey possesses the Russian-made S-400 air defense system, which prompted the United States to expel Turkey from the multinational F-35 program in 2019 due to threats to aircraft stealth and intelligence safeguards. Some national security experts warn that reintegration risks outweigh benefits because Turkey proceeded with the S-400 despite allied warnings. Other analysts note potential benefits from F-35 reintegration, including strengthening NATO's southern flank, upgrading Turkey's aging F-16 fleet, and enhancing interoperability and deterrence.
We discussed the F-35 issue. We made payments of $1.3 to $1.4 billion for the jets, and we saw that Mr. Trump was well-intentioned about delivering them,
did not come up
Turkey made its choice despite repeated warnings, advice, and pressure from allies. It went into this with eyes wide open and decided in 2019 to proceed with the S-400 missile defense system,
Bringing Turkey back into the F-35 program could strengthen NATO's southern flank, where Turkey's strategic position bordering Syria, Iran, and Russia matters. Its air force, stuck with aging F-16s, would gain fifth-generation stealth with the F-35, boosting NATO interoperability and deterrence against adversaries like China and Russia,
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