Why suspending F-35 deliveries to Turkey is more bark than bite

President Trump and Congress sent a message to Turkey this week by suspending deliveries of F-35 Joint Strike Fighter jets to the NATO ally, but the legislation contained in a newly passed annual defense bill is unlikely to have any real impact on the program.

The suspension could last just three months and Turkey is not expected to receive its next F-35 until 2019, according to Joe DellaVedova, spokesman for the Pentagon’s F-35 Joint Program Office, and two other sources close to the program.