Is Turkey’s S-400 Air Defense System Worth Losing F-35 Manufacturing Deal?

Turkey appears to have struck a bad bargain in buying the S-400 air defense system (ADS) from Russia; it lost close to $9 billion in orders to manufacture components for the F-35 jets besides depriving its air force of some 100 of the stealth jets.

The U.S. pulled the plug on Turkey’s F-35 buy as well as manufacturing components for the aircraft after U.S. officials repeatedly warned that the Russian S-400 ADS will gather critical information about the F-35 fighter jet besides it being ‘incompatible’ with NATO systems.

Turkey was one of the 9 partner countries of the F-35 Lightning II program. Local manufacturers were reportedly gaining $9 billion from building components for the F-35 stealth jet.

“The ten Turkish manufacturers had been slated to make about $9 billion on F-35 parts contracts. As of July (2019), they already had about $1 billion in commitments. Turkey will certainly and regrettably lose jobs and future economic opportunities from this decision,”- Ellen Lord, defense undersecretary of acquisition and sustainment.