Experts suggest no easy path forward for Turkish F-16 deal
Mock-up of a Royal Bahraini Air Force F-16 Block 70 aircraft. (Photo: Lockheed Martin)
As reports emerge linking Turkey with an order of new F-16 aircraft from the US, experts have pointed out that a deal remains far from certain.
Any deal struck between the US and Turkey for a fleet of F-16 Block 70/72 fighters will continue to be fraught with difficulty, according to leading defence analysts.
Despite President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stating on 17 October that the US had offered Ankara sale of the aircraft to compensate for cancelling an order of 100 F-35A conventional take-off and landing (CTOL) variants – in the wake of Turkey procuring Almaz-Antey S-400 surface to air missile (SAM) systems — the US State Department since confirmed that it has ‘not made any financing offers’ to Turkey for an F-16 deal.
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