The Republican chairmen and ranking Democrats of the Senate Armed Services and Foreign Relations committees have issued a blunt warning to Turkey: Give up plans to buy Russian S-400 anti-aircraft missiles or kiss the American F-35 goodbye.
“It will not have both,” the senators vow in an op-ed in the New York Times, which is intended as a direct message to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan a day after he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin and said he would proceed with the deal to buy the Russian air defense system, which the United States says would compromise the high-tech stealth of the F-35.
“No one can expect us to give up this,” Erdogan told reporters, arguing that as a sovereign country Turkey cannot accept foreign interference.
If that’s the case, the bipartisan group of Senate leaders warns, Erdogan will face “profound consequences for his country’s place in the world, its relationship with the United States and its standing in NATO.”
The op-ed, written by the Armed Services Committee’s Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., and Jack Reed, D-R.I., and the Foreign Relations Committee’s Jim Risch, R-Idaho, and Bob Menendez, D-N.J., threatens Turkey with crippling sanctions under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act.
“Sanctions will hit Turkey’s economy hard — rattling international markets, scaring away foreign direct investment and crippling Turkey’s aerospace and defense industry,” they write. “Further, no F-35s will ever reach Turkish soil. And Turkish participation in the F-35 program, including manufacturing parts, repairing and servicing the fighters, will be terminated, taking Turkish companies out of the manufacturing and supply chain for the program.”
Turkey has already bought and paid for four F-35As, which are at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona, where Turkish pilots are learning to fly them. The country is one of eight international partners that help build the Lockheed Martin jet, making parts of the fuselage and cockpit displays.
“Turkey is an important partner in the F-35 program, but it is not irreplaceable,” the senators say. The Pentagon announced last week that it was seeking secondary sources of supply for Turkish-produced F-35 parts “to ensure prudent program planning and resiliency of the F-35 supply chain.”
Turkey has already invested more than $1.25 billion in the F-35 program, and planned to purchase 100 F-35s. The senators say that investment will be “squandered,” and Turkey will be forced to settle for a less-capable fighter aircraft that will not arrive for many years.
“Turkish companies that produce parts for the F-35 will see their orders dry up completely. Its F-35 engine maintenance, repair, overhaul, and upgrade facility will see all its work go to other facilities in Europe,” they write. “President Erdogan’s hope to make the Turkish defense industry a key pillar of economic growth for the future will be dashed.”
America can’t risk allowing Russian radars close access to its fifth-generation fighter aircraft, the senators say. “The S-400 is the most advanced system produced to date in Russia’s quest to defeat stealth technology — the system Russia built to shoot down the F-35 fighters.”
The lawmakers say Congress is ready to help if Russia punishes Turkey for pulling out of the program. “We understand that Turkey has a relationship of necessity with Russia — on Syria, energy, agriculture, tourism and more,” they write. “If President Erdogan walks away from the S-400, Mr. Putin may retaliate in one or more of these areas. In that unfortunate event, we commit to do all we can to assist Turkey as it weathers the storm.”
