1in.am Turkey is preparing to «sell the C-400 missile system acquired from Russia to a third country in the near future». This was reported by RIA Novosti, referring to a publication by «Hurriyet». Turkey purchased these air defense systems from Russia in 2019, which caused it to be excluded from the American F-35 fighter jet program.
On July 7, a meeting took place in Ankara between the presidents of the USA and Turkey. Although Donald Trump did not make a direct statement about it, Turkish President Erdogan publicly announced that he «promised to sell five units of F-35».
According to Israeli media, Prime Minister Netanyahu has «consistently advised the US president not to trust Turkey». Greece is also opposed to selling fifth-generation fighter jets to Turkey.
The most noteworthy aspect of this «jigsaw puzzle» is perhaps that, as the «Hurriyet» publication indicates, the US president continues to condition the sale of F-35s to Turkey on the abandonment of the Russian C-400. According to a Turkish source, the buyer of that system could be the United Arab Emirates or Qatar.
The incompatibility of Russia's latest air defense system and America's latest fighter jets is based on the fact that the C-400 can «hunt» the technological secrets of the F-35. Although seven years have passed, Turkey has not yet put the C-400 into combat duty.
Which country in the region would pay billions to acquire an air defense system whose existence would deprive it of ever obtaining American fifth-generation fighter jets or Patriots?
Earlier, there were speculations in the press that Azerbaijan «could accommodate Turkey», but the topic did not develop further. Baku's minval politikan hinted in «Aesopian language» that Ilham Aliyev «could have been invited to the NATO «Turkish» summit».
This did not happen. Moreover, there was also no phone conversation between Erdogan and Aliyev. What discussions are there between Turkey and Azerbaijan, and are there any? It is still difficult to determine. One thing seems clear: without abandoning the Russian C-400, Turkey is unlikely to receive American fifth-generation fighter jets.
* This text was automatically translated by Artificial Intelligence (AI).
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