Aviation
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deprecated F-16
According to official, Turkey may prefer Su-35 and Su-57 fighters to F-16s
Sukhoi Su-35
Por Rob Schleiffert - Su-35, CC BY-SA 2.0
Su-35
Por Aleksandr Markin - Su-35 in flight., CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Gabriela Ramos
10/19/2021
Turkey may give preference to buying Russian Su-35 and Su-57 fighters if the sale of US F-16 fighters is frozen, according to Ismail Demir, head of the Turkish Defense Industries Presidency.
Demir told broadcaster Kanal 7 that “if the process [of purchasing and upgrading the F-16s] has no results, then Turkey will not be left without alternatives. If necessary, the Su-35 and Su-57 topic can be opened at any time. Our industry will do everything to ensure our safety and if something extra is needed, we can always find a way.”
This statement came after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said last Sunday, Oct. 17, that Washington had proposed to Ankara to purchase F-16 fighters as a return on its investment in the F-35 program.
According to a senior Turkish presidential official, after Turkey was removed from the F-35 program, Ankara could consider adding more F-16 fighters to its fleet instead of the F-35.
Ankara's withdrawal from the program was a consequence of the conflict between the United States and Turkey, which began after the Turkish government decided to buy the Russian S-400 anti-aircraft defense systems.
In response, the United States canceled the sale of the F-35 fighter to Turkey, on the grounds that the Turks could leak the aircraft's military secrets to Russia.
Sukhoi Su-57
Anna Zvereva, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
Sukhoi Su-57
Anna Zvereva, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
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Gabriela Ramos
Gabriela is the latest addition to the editorial team of our website, having provided us with her solid background in editing, publishing and photography, and her interest and training in aviation history and historiography. His good taste and common sense and great cleverness and sagacity in the selection of themes and materials greatly enriched our vocabulary and narrative style. Gabriela brought unusual predicates and came to stay, helping to point the way of success of our portal.
   
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