Turkey pivots to domestic upgrades, eyes F‑35 future
Ankara has decided to cancel the purchase of 79 modernisation packages for F-16 aircraft. This announcement was made by Turkey's Defence Minister, Yaşar Güler, who also stated that the country is interested in acquiring 40 new F-35 fighters.
At the start of this year, the United States agreed to supply 40 F-16 fighters to Turkey, along with 79 kits to upgrade its existing F-16 aircraft. The decision was reached after the U.S. Congress and the State Department approved this transaction, previously making it conditional on Turkey's ratification of Sweden's application for NATO membership.
Change in Turkey's F-16 plans
To fully understand the situation, one must look back at autumn 2021. At that time, Ankara requested from Washington the aforesaid 40 F-16 Block 70 fighters and 79 modernisation kits to upgrade older F-16 models to the Block 70 standard. This was due to Turkey's exclusion from the F-35 fighter programme following Ankara's purchase of Russian S-400 air defence systems.
The cancellation of the modernisation package purchase does not mean Turkey has given up upgrading its F-16s. In a bid to economise, Ankara has opted to utilise solutions from its own arms manufacturing plants.
"An initial payment has been made for the procurement of F-16 Block-70. A payment of $1.4 (£1.1) billion has been made. With this, we will buy 40 F-16 Block-70 Viper and we were going to buy 79 modernisation kits. We gave up on this 79. This is why we gave up: Our Turkish Aerospace Industries (TUSAS) facilities are capable of carrying out this modernisation on their own, so we deferred to them," Güler said, as reported by Reuters.
Turkey still seeks F-35
The head of Turkey's defence department stressed that Ankara is interested in rejoining the F-35 programme and purchasing 40 new aircraft of this type. The Duvar service reported that the nearness of realising the ambitious Turkish fifth-generation fighter project, named KAAN, is prompting the U.S. to consider selling F-35s to Turkey.
KAAN is a fighter measuring approximately 21 metres in length and 14 metres in wingspan, powered by two General Electric engines. The Turks claim it will allow pilots to achieve speeds of about 1.8 Mach and operate within a range exceeding 1,000 kilometres. The aircraft is expected to feature an AESA radar, advanced navigation functions, and be tailored to carry various types of weaponry. However, its actual capabilities remain untested, unlike the already widely esteemed F-35 fighter.
As noted by Reuters, Turkey's air fleet, comprising over 200 F-16 fighters in older versions, is one of the largest fleets of these aircraft in the world. Ankara's ambitions also extend to the purchase of Eurofighter Typhoon fighters, which are produced by a German-British-Italian-Spanish consortium.
