US Moving Forward With Formal Process Of Removing Turkey From F-35 Program - Pentagon

The United States is in the process of formally removing Turkey from the F-35 jet program after it initially announced it would do so in July 2019, US Defense Department spokesperson Jessica Maxwell told Sputnik on Thursday

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 22nd April, 2021) The United States is in the process of formally removing Turkey from the F-35 jet program after it initially announced it would do so in July 2019, US Defense Department spokesperson Jessica Maxwell told Sputnik on Thursday.

"Our position has not changed. The S-400 is incompatible with the F-35 and Turkey has been suspended from the program. We continue to move forward with the process of formally removing Turkey from the F-35 partnership, as announced in July 2019," Maxwell said.

Earlier on Thursday, the Turkish news agency Anadolu reported that Washington abrogated the F-35 deal with Ankara while concluding a new deal with other program participants - Australia, Canada, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway and the United Kingdom.

The crisis in the relation between the two NATO members was triggered by Turkey's decision to purchase Russian-made S-400 air defense systems instead of the American Patriots. The US Senate had passed a bill blocking the delivery of F-35 jets to Turkey on June 18, 2018, while the US government stopped all Turkish pilots training on the F-35 jet in the summer of 2019.