AirForces Monthly – September 2019

6 // September 2019 #378 http://www.airforcesmonthly.com

US begins to remove Turkey

from F-35 programme

THE US Department of

Defense announced on July

17 that it had started the

process of ‘unwinding’ Turkey

from the F-35 programme

in response to Ankara’s

decision to buy S-

surface-to-air missiles.

Turkey took delivery of

the first three shipments

of components from the

Russian-built air defence

system at Mürted air base

on July 12, and a fourth

shipment arrived a day

later. After rejecting a US

counter-offer for the Patriot

missile system, Turkey has

emphasised that its S-400s

will not be integrated into

NATO warfighting networks.

In a statement, the White

House said the F-35 “cannot

coexist with a Russian

intelligence-collection

platform that will be used

to learn about its advanced

capabilities”. However,

Deputy Undersecretary of

Defense for Policy David J

Trachtenberg told reporters

that America’s strategic

partnership with Turkey

remained unchanged and

“as long-standing NATO

allies, our relationship is

multi-layered and extends

well beyond the F-35”.

Turkey had planned to buy

100 F-35As and had a major

role in the manufacturing

and maintenance efforts,

including a projected

US$9bn workshare and

responsibility for making

around 900 components –

including the centre fuselage

and cockpit display.

According to the DoD,

Turkish personnel – including

pilots in training at Eglin

Air Force Base, Florida,

and Luke AFB, Arizona –

had been reassigned away

from the programme by

July 31. Other changes will

be made to the Joint Strike

Fighter supply base and the

aircraft supply chain and

the process of removing

Turkey from the programme

is scheduled for completion

by the end of March.

Initially, Turkish F-35 parts

production will be shifted

to US suppliers at a cost

of between US$500m and

US$600m, but there’s scope

for other partner nations to

expand their workshare too.

As well as terminating future

F-35 deliveries to the Turkish

Air Force, Washington

is expected to impose

sanctions against Turkey.

One of the four Turkish F-35As already delivered is serial 18-0002 (AT-02, 15-5220), at Luke AFB earlier this year. The US is yet to determine the ultimate fate of

these aircraft now that pilots in training have been grounded. Rolf Flinzner

Above: The second and third Gripen E prototypes, aircraft 39-9 and 39-10. The Swedish

company sees the MoU as “a starting point for exploring joint development of a future combat

air system which will also read across into the continued long-term development of existing

platforms including Gripen”. Linus Svensson/Saab

Sweden signs combat

air MoU with UK

SWEDEN AND the United

Kingdom have signed

an agreement on the

development of future

combat aircraft capabilities,

encompassing the

forthcoming Tempest fighter

as well as the Saab Gripen.

On July 18, Sweden’s

Minister for Defence

Peter Hultqvist and the

UK’s then Secretary of

State for Defence Penny

Mordaunt signed a ten-

year memorandum of

understanding (MoU)

regarding co-operation

on future combat air

systems. This commits the

respective governments

to work on a joint combat

air development and

acquisition programme,

including development of

new concepts to meet both

nations’ future requirements.

The MoU does not

include any longer-term

commitments between the

countries, both of which

are permitted to continue

work on other studies

and with other partners.

Hultqvist stressed the

opportunities to incorporate

advanced technologies

onto the existing Gripen and

Typhoon, before employing

them in a future combat

air system. In a statement,

the UK Ministry of Defence

noted that both countries

share similar future combat

air requirements, including

the need for platforms

optimised for air defence.

NEWS Headlines

06-07 HeadlineNews AFM Sep2019.indd 6 8/5/2019 9:33:25 AM