Turkey according to recent info published by Turkish media has applied to purchase 40 F-16s from the United States. The proposal letter, signed on September 30th, includes the modernization of 80 F-16 aircraft that are now used by the Turkish Airforce but this letter is probably hiding another Turkish blame game.
The letter asking for the modernization of the old and almost obsolete F-16 fleet was forwarded to Washington on September 30th. Turkey’s request will be evaluated by the US State Department and the Department of Defence with almost zero chances to be approved.
Even if the Pentagon approves the modernization the US Congress is highly unlikely to approve it with senator Bob Menendez Chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee stating multiple times that no US arms sales will be approved to Turkey, if Erdogan doesn’t change his position on the Russian S-400 air defence systems.
But with these low chances of getting the modernization approved… Why does Erdogan proceed with asking for it?
Our opinion on GEOPOLITIKI.COM is that Erdogan is playing again the same game he played with the acquirement of Russian air defence systems (S-400) and basically, he repeats the same blame game.
We remind you that the main Turkish argument on the S-400 deal & the threat of sanctions by the United States was that Erdogan had asked for US Patriots but the USA declined to sell it to the Turkish Armed Forces after Turkish pressure to include also sensitive technology of the US air defence systems in the deal.
So it is highly possible that Erdogan at the moment is seeking an American “no” on the modernization of his F-16 fleet in order for him to proceed in buying Russian aircraft such as the Su-35S & the Su-57s that Russia seems to have already offered to Turkey.
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