US suspends F-35 deliveries to Turkey over S-400

By Michael Hernandez</p> <p>WASHINGTON (AA) – The U.S. announced Monday that it has suspended &quot;deliveries and activities&quot; related to Turkey's procurement of the F-35 fifth-generation stealth fighter jet over Ankara's plans to buy Russia’s S-400 surface-to-air missile system. </p> <p>&quot;We very much regret the current situation facing our F-35 partnership with Turkey, and the DoD is taking prudent steps to protect the shared investments made in our critical technology,&quot; Pentagon spokesman Charles Summers said in a statement, referring to the Department of Defense. </p> <p>&quot;Should Turkey procure the S-400, their continued participation in the F-35 program is at risk.&quot;</p> <p>Following protracted efforts to purchase air defense systems from the U.S. with no success, Ankara decided in 2017 to purchase the Russian S-400 air defense system.</p> <p>Ankara is also planning to purchase 100 F-35 fighter jets from the U.S. and its pilots are currently training on the weapons platform at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona.</p> <p>Washington has long cautioned Turkey against the purchase of the S-400, warning it might be used to covertly obtain critical information on the F-35, including their detection range, which could then be relayed to Russia.</p> <p>&quot;The United States has been clear that Turkey's acquisition of the S-400 is unacceptable,&quot; Summers said. &quot;Therefore, the DoD has initiated steps necessary to ensure prudent program planning and resiliency of the F-35 supply chain.&quot; </p> <p>Turkey first joined the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Program in 2002 and has invested more than $1.25 billion. It also manufactures various aircraft parts for all F-35 variants and customers.</p> <p>Summers said the Pentagon is currently developing additional sources to replace the Turkish-produced F-35 components.</p> <p>Two F-35s have already been delivered to Turkey and are currently at Luke Air Force Base. These jets were scheduled to be transferred in November this year.</p> <p>Two more jets are expected to be delivered soon. </p> <p>*Kasim Ileri contributed to this report</p> <p>