ANKARA (Middle East Eye) -- Turkey has slowed down a multibillion-dollar F-16 fighter jet deal with the United States as Ankara shifts its focus towards rejoining the next generation F-35 program, two sources familiar with the matter told Middle East Eye.
According to a readout released by the Turkish presidency, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan asked his U.S. counterpart, Donald Trump, to reconsider Ankara’s request to purchase F-35 fighter jets during a phone call in March.
Following the call, both governments began negotiations to resolve the key obstacle that led to Turkey’s exclusion from the program in 2019: Ankara’s acquisition of Russian-made S-400 air defense systems.
Turkey had been one of the main partners in the F-35 consortium and was responsible for producing certain components. The U.S. currently holds six F-35s in storage that were built for Turkey and fully paid for, but have been in limbo since 2019.
Earlier this month, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said legal experts from both sides were examining viable options that could enable the Trump administration to lift the S-400-related sanctions.
This could pave the way for broader defense engagements, including the purchase of $20 billion worth of spare parts and ammunition.
Last year, Turkey scaled down its F-16 procurement plan, opting out of 79 modernization kits and instead committing to purchase 40 F-16 Vipers along with associated ammunition, reducing the total value of the deal from $23 billion to $7 billion.
“Turkey has put the brakes on the F-16 deal,” one source told MEE. “The down payment Ankara made could potentially be rerouted toward the F-35 program, if Washington agrees to readmit Turkey.”
The source added that Ankara does not plan to cancel the F-16 deal altogether but wants to prioritize the F-35s.
Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler said in November that Ankara had made a $1.4bn initial payment for the F-16s.
A second source noted that since both the F-16s and F-35s are manufactured by the U.S. defense contractor Lockheed Martin, redirecting the payment would be feasible.
“There’s a long production queue for F-16s. Ankara might have to wait years before receiving its first jets,” the source said, pointing to Bulgaria, which waited three years for the first delivery of its F-16s.