Turkey has allegedly requested to buy 40 Lockheed Martin-made F-16 fighter jets as well as 80 modernization kits for its existing warplanes, news agencies reported. The request came after the purchase of F-35 jets fell through.
Turkey’s demand is expected to be blocked by US Congress. Both US government and the Congress had banned the sale of some weapons to Turkey due to the procurement of S-400 missiles by Turkish army. US also implemented CAATSA sanctions on Turkey.
Some Turkish analysts oppose the insistence on US-made fighters. İbrahim Karataş, a columnist at Yeni Akit daily, said there are alternative jets produced by other NATO members. “There is no single non-American jet in Turkish air forces’ inventory though there are alternatives like Eurofighter, which draw 3-3 with F-22 in dog-fight. So, Turkey can break dependency by buying other jet brands”, Karataş added.
On the other hand, Ali Bakeer of Qatar University said in his tweet that Turkey might want to test US and end F-35 saga.
https://twitter.com/AliBakeer/status/1446353062818426891?s=20
