By Oguzhan Sari and Utku Simsek
ANKARA (AA) - The US revised its position on the sale of F-35 fighter jets to Türkiye after witnessing its progress with its domestically developed KAAN fighter jet, Turkish National Defense Minister Yasar Guler said Tuesday.
“When the Americans saw that we could build and fly the KAAN, they changed their minds a bit about the F-35,” Guler said, addressing the Turkish Parliament's Planning and Budget Commission.
“Now, they are expressing willingness to provide F-35s. However, no progress has been made. We insist on reclaiming our production share and maintain our request to acquire F-35s,” he added.
Guler also highlighted Ankara’s efforts to modernize the Air Force until the light combat aircraft HURJET and KAAN are operational.
He announced a $1.4 billion payment for 40 US F-16 Block 70 Viper jets, adding Türkiye will modernize its 79 older F-16s in Turkish Aerospace Industries facilities.
On Eurofighter Typhoon jets, Guler noted that Germany has issued the necessary permissions and procurement discussions continue.
- Air defense
The national defense minister said that Türkiye purchased Russia’s S-400 missile system in line with the country's needs after no other country with such systems responded positively to Ankara's requests.
Guler confirmed that the S-400 systems are deployment-ready and operational within 12 hours if needed. Underlining that it is an air defense system, Guler said that Türkiye would only use it in case of a "very high level of danger."
Regarding the latest status of the domestic air defense systems, he said not all of these systems have been completed.
"SIPER 1 (long-range surface-to-air missile) was produced and entered the inventory with a range of 100 kilometers (62 miles). Now, the second and third SIPERs will follow immediately," he said.
"In order to provide air defense for our country, we will need not one but several Steel Domes, and these are already being produced," he added.