Turkey wins US Backing for F-16 upgrades

Turkey Wins Biden Backing for Its F-16 Fighter Jets Upgrades
13 May 2022

The Biden administration has asked Congress to approve the sale of weapons and equipment upgrades to Turkey’s fleet of American-made F-16 fighter jets, a sign of thawing relations between the NATO allies as the Russian war in Ukraine drags on.

The informal reviews submitted to Congress include the proposed sale of Sidewinder missiles, Amraam missiles and software and hardware updates to F-16 cockpits already in Turkey, according to people familiar with the matter. Turkey’s arms purchase is expected to exceed $500 million, according to one of the people, who asked not to be identified in advance of a formal announcement.

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https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles ... ghter-jets

Turkey at the same time is raising doubts about Sweden and Finland in NATO, so this is going to be interesting going forward.

MADRID, June 29 (Reuters) - The Biden administration threw its support on Wednesday behind the potential sale of U.S. F-16 fighter jets to Turkey, a day after Ankara lifted a veto of NATO membership for Finland and Sweden.

Celeste Wallander, Assistant Secretary for Defense for International Security Affairs at Pentagon, told reporters on a call that strong Turkish defense capabilities would reinforce NATO's defenses.

"The United States supports Turkey’s modernization of its fighter fleet because that is a contribution to NATO security and therefore American security," she said.

"These plans are in the works. And, they need to be worked through our contracting processes," she added.

Turkey made a request in October to the United States to buy 40 Lockheed Martin-made F-16 fighters and nearly 80 modernization kits for its existing warplanes.

https://www.reuters.com/world/biden-adm ... 022-06-29/