Daily Sabah:
There exist many treaties and deals between the U.S. and Turkey on defense industry cooperation, military technology transfer and weapons sales. One of the most important joint defense programs Turkey has contributed in this context is the production of F-35 jets.
Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter jets cost $100 million each, and the Turkish Air Forces had planned to buy 116 of them. The first delivery was expected for June 21. However, a U.S. Senate committee passed a bill including a measure to prevent Turkey from purchasing the jets.
The bill is several steps from becoming law, as we don’t know yet what the decision of the House of Representatives will be, nor if President Trump would sign it when the day comes. In any case, it is obvious that there are some people in Washington who hope to use the F-35 program as a tool to pressure Turkey.
