AIN Online:
The saga of Turkey’s quest for a ground-based long-range air and missile defense system (LORAMIDS) took a new turn last month when, within two weeks, defense minister Fikri Isik announced deals with both Russia and the Eurosam consortium. Turkey has been wanting to acquire such a system for many years, and in 2013 it initially accepted an offer from China that was worth a reported $3.4 billion. But the deal was never sealed after objections from the leadership of NATO, of which Turkey is a key member (although an increasingly unreliable one).
Turkey subsequently explored the development of an indigenous system by defense electronics company Aselsan and weapons maker Roketsan, or buying the medium extended air defense system (MEADS) that is being co-developed by Lockheed Martin and MBDA for Germany. It also considered the Lockheed Martin/Raytheon Patriot system. But Turkey also re-opened negotiations with Russia for the S-400 system that had previously stalled because of high cost, according to unofficial reports. Again there were objections from Turkey’s Western defense partners, which made clear that if Turkey acquired the S-400 system, it would have to be operated stand-alone, with no integration with U.S. or NATO air defense systems deployed in the country.
