An Israeli official is reportedly concerned over the F-35 fighter jets sales to Turkey and the issue is currently being discussed with U.S. officials in order to prevent technology transfer, according to a report in Israeli media.
According to the report in the Israeli daily Haaretz yesterday, the Israeli official told the newspaper that Israel wants to be the only country with F-35s in the Middle East.
The Israeli official also said that at the center of the Israeli-U.S. talks was the prevention of technology transfer that would expand the capacity of the F-35s to Turkey.
"Israel and U.S. discuss delivering jets without performance-enhancing software so that Israel keeps its edge," the report said.
"Talks between Israel and the United States are centered, among other things, around software developed by the Americans that allows the ‘upgrading' of F-35 capabilities. Sources in Washington confirmed to Haaretz that the issue is currently ‘part of the negotiations' relating to the F-35 deal," it read.
As for the sources in the Israeli defense establishment, they said it would be very difficult to prevent the delivery of 100 F-35s to Turkey because the country is included in the production process of the F-35.
Meanwhile, a U.S. Senate committee passed on last Thursday a defense policy bill in which measures to prevent Turkey from purchasing the F-35 jets were included.
The amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, from Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen and Republican Senator Thom Tillis, would remove Turkey from the F-35 program over the country's detention of U.S. citizen Andrew Brunson, Shaheen's office said. The bill also cites Turkey's agreement with Russia to buy S-400 surface-to-air missile batteries.
In responding to the U.S. Senate bill, Aksoy also said the latest U.S. move targeted Turkey to persuade it to drop its S-400 defense system deal with Russia and release American pastor Andrew Brunson, who is held in Turkey on terror charges for his links to the PKK and the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ).
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Wednesday on Capitol Hill that he has not made a decision on the delivery of F-35 warplanes to Turkey.
During a press conference in Ankara on Friday, Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson Hami Aksoy said that Turkey has "fulfilled all requirements" of the multinational Joint Strike Fighter Program to produce Lockheed Martin's F-35 Lightning II. Aksoy underscored that the multinational program contract assigns specific responsibilities to all involved parties and Turkey expects the U.S. to fulfill all contractual responsibilities.
"Such steps are contrary to the spirit of alliance we have with the U.S.," Aksoy said. Referring to Foreign Affairs Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu's remarks on the subject, Aksoy added that Turkey would have to retaliate if U.S. acts in contravention to the F-35 program requirements.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said last Wednesday on Capitol Hill that he has not made a decision on the delivery of F-35 warplanes to Turkey. Upon Pompeo's remarks, a Turkish official told Daily Sabah that joint productions with the U.S. and other countries are not subject to congressional overview and are not required to go through a U.S. State Department direct sale process, which would require the secretary of state's approval.
The Undersecretariat for Defense Industries (SSM) plans to supply 100 F-35A aircraft to the Turkish Air Force Command as part of the Joint Offensive Aircraft (F-35) Project, which Turkey joined as a partner country, to meet the needs of the Air Force Command's next generation warplane.
Apart from Turkey, the U.S., U.K., Italy, the Netherlands, Canada, Australia, Norway and Denmark are also present as participant members to the program.
The Defense Industry Executive Committee made a procurement decision for the first 30 aircraft, and delivery of the first F-35 fighter jet is scheduled for June 21 with a ceremony at the Lockheed Martin's Fort Worth facilities. The first two fighter jets will be deployed to Luke Air Force Base in the United States by the end of 2020 to train Turkish pilots.
After training the pilots and delivering the fighter jets to Turkey, the aircraft will be deployed to the Malatya 7th Main Jet Base Command by November 2019. Work to modernize Malatya Air Base to meet the aircraft's needs should be finished by the end of this year. Turkey's domestic industry has played a substantial role in the Joint Offensive Aircraft Project, and these participating firms are expected to make a profit of $12 billion.
