Turkey to get two more F-35 fighter jets in March 2019

Türkiye  |
Editor : Tevfik Sayraç

Country took delivery of its first two F-35 fighters in late June at a ceremony in Fort Worth, Texas

Turkey to get two more F-35 fighter jets in March 2019

The U.S. will deliver two more F-35 fighter jets to Turkey in 2019, the military head of the F-35 program said Monday.

Speaking to reporters in Arlington, Virginia, Vice Admiral Mat Winter, the executive officer for the F-35 program, said he expected the warplanes to be delivered in March.

Ankara plans to acquire 100 F-35 fighter jets in the coming years.

Winter said he does not “see any indication of a change” in the delivery of Turkey's 100 jets.

"The Pentagon must submit a report to Congress within 90 days of the 2019 Defense Authorization Act being enacted," he added, referring to an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act that prohibits F-35 sales to Turkey until the Pentagon issues a report on Turkish-American relations.

The F-35, a stealth jet built by Lockheed Martin, is considered one of the most expensive pieces of U.S. military equipment, with an average cost of around $100 million.

Winter said his office has provided technical and programmatic information for the report and will submit it within 90 days.

Turkey took delivery of its first two F-35 fighter jets in late June at a ceremony in Fort Worth, Texas.

Turkey has been in the F-35 program since 1999. The Turkish defense industry has taken an active role in their production, including Alp Aviation, AYESAS, Kale Aviation, Kale Pratt & Whitney and Turkish Aerospace Industries making parts for the first F-35 fighter jet.

Source : AA
WARNING: Comments that contain insults, swearing, offensive sentences or allusions, attacks on beliefs, are not written with spelling rules, do not use Turkish characters and are written in capital letters are not approved.