The saga around Turkey’s purchase of modernized American F-16 Fighting Falcon fighters that have undergone modernization Viper (Block 70/72). The potential deal is valued at $20 billion.

What is known

Turkish senior officials are signaling a possible abandonment of plans to purchase the latest aircraft from Lockheed Martin. This is due to the fact that the deal has stalled, and Turkey began to face economic problems after a series of earthquakes.

Cagri Erhan, presidential adviser on security and foreign policy, recently said that the request to acquire the F-16V Block 70/72 was a mistake. Many Turkish officials agree with that statement as US lawmakers continue to block a potential $20 billion sale of the fighter jets.

Back in February, Defense Minister Hulusi Akar pointed out that the F-16 was not the only option for the Turkish Air Force. The head of the defense department stressed that Turkey hoped for the common sense of Washington in this matter.

Turkey is the largest operator of the Fighting Falcon outside the US. The fighter fleet consists of approximately 260 aircraft. Some of them will soon be 30 years old, so Ankara is thinking about upgrading. Turkey has requested 40 F-16V Block 70/72 fighters and 80 upgrade kits for older aircraft.

Ankara’s first choice was initially the fifth-generation F-35 Lightning II aircraft. But Turkey was excluded from the program after it acquired Russian S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems in 2019.

The Defense Ministry has been considering buying Russian Su-57 fighter jets, but a deal looks unlikely given the sanctions that have been imposed on Russia since its invasion of Ukraine. Other options are the Eurofighter Typhoon, Dassault Rafale and J-10.

Source: Shephard Media