Turkey S-400 Purchase Makes Continued Involvement In F-35 Program Impossible - White House

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 18th July, 2019) Turkey's purchase of the Russian S-400 air defense systems has made it impossible to keep Ankara in the F-35 fighter jet program, the White House said in a statement on Wednesday.

"Unfortunately, Turkey's decision to purchase Russian S-400 air defense systems renders its continued involvement with the F-35 impossible," the White House said in a press release.

The United States will continue to cooperate with Turkey mindful of the constraints posed by the presence of the S-400 system, the statement said.

Turkey's acquisition of the air defense system will have detrimental impacts on Turkish interoperability with the rest of the NATO alliance, the statement added.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Turkish Defense Ministry said 13 airplanes carrying components of the Russian S-400 air defense system have so far arrived in Turkey. The first batch of S-400 components was brought to Turkey on July 12.

Russia and Turkey signed an agreement for the delivery of four S-400 batteries in December 2017. The United States and NATO member states criticized the agreement and expressed concerns over the S-400 system's incompatibility with NATO's air and missile defense systems.

The United States claims the S-400 may compromise the F-35 stealth jet project. Washington announced in June that it would not accept Turkish pilots for F-35 training unless Turkey abandoned the S-400 agreement with Russia. Turkey has said the acquisition of the Russian air defense system is a done deal and will not give up its $2.5 billion contract with Russia.

According to media reports, the United States has already decided on implementing sanctions against Turkey over the procurement of the S-400 systems that may be announced later in July.