Spotlight: U.S. move to block F-35 planes into Turkey could backfire

The unprecedented move by some U.S. senators aiming at blocking the transfer of F-35 Joint Strike Fighter to Turkey, a NATO ally, could seriously backfire and delay production of the high-tech, radar evading aircraft, local experts said.

A bill has been submitted last week by three senators and comes at a time of deteriorating relations between the United States and Turkey, which supported the fight against Islamic State (IS) but has become increasingly worried about U.S. backing for Kurdish fighters in north Syria.

The senators issued a statement expressing concern that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had embarked on a "path of reckless governance and disregard for the rule of law," arguing that "the transfer of sensitive F-35 technology and cutting-edge capabilities to Erdogan's regime is increasingly risky."

The move aims at pressuring Ankara to release a U.S. citizen jailed in Turkey. The senators voiced concern about Turkey's detention of a U.S. preacher, Andrew Brunson, a long-time resident of Turkey who was jailed during Turkey's crackdown launched after a military coup attempt in July 2016.

President Erdogan declared a state of emergency in Turkey following the failed coup. Since then, tens of thousands of suspected coup plotters have been arrested and convicted especially in the military and bureaucracy. Ankara charges that followers of a U.S.-based cleric, Fethullah Gulen, were behind the coup attempt.

Brunson faces 35 years in prison for charges of "terrorism and espionage." The pastor denied the charges during the first hearing of his trial in mid-April. U.S. President Donald Trump has personally intervened in the case.

Turkey plans to buy more than 100 F-35 aircraft and it is in negotiations to purchase some 16 others capable of short take-off and vertical landing, according to Turkish government sources.

Turkish companies have been involved in producing parts for the fighter, and Ankara is scheduled to begin receiving its first aircraft within a year.

Experts believe that the bill will do more harm than good to the F-35 project which has been already subject to delays because of financial problems.

"As the Turkish manufacturer Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) is engaged in the production of the central fuselage of the aircraft jointly with the American Northrop Grumman, the adoption of such a bill would deal a serious blow to the project," said Ozgur Eksi, a senior analyst at the Istanbul-based C4defence magazine.

"Such a move could possibly delay the project by up to 5 years," he argued.

The bill would restrict the transfer of F-35 aircraft to Turkey and limit Ankara from receiving intellectual property or technical data needed to maintain and support the fighters.

It would allow the U.S. president to waive the restrictions by certifying that Turkey is not taking steps that would undermine NATO security and not wrongfully detaining U.S. citizens.

But it could also push Turkey to turn to Russia for sophisticated arms deals. Turkey signed a deal with Russia to buy the S-400 missile defense system in September 2017, worrying Washington and other NATO members.

He also pointed out that the future maintenance of European F-35 aircrafts is planned to be done in Turkey and that could be put at risk, too.

Britain, the Netherlands, Italy, Denmark and Norway are other European countries that buy the F-35 and may be affected by a sanctions row between Washington and Ankara.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that Turkey would not accept threats of sanctions for buying Russian S-400 system.

Cvusoglu said so after meeting his newly appointed counterpart, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in Brussels on Friday on the sidelines of a NATO session.

The statement was in response to Assistant Secretary of State Wess Mitchell, who said last week that Turkey could face U.S. sanctions if it insists on purchasing Russian missile system.

A senior U.S. official, quoted by news agencies, for his part said that "He (Pompeo) asked Cavusoglu to closely consider NATO interoperable systems," seemingly referring to the Patriot systems that Washington would want to sell to Ankara.

"We have completed the S-400 process. That is a done deal. But we need more air defense, we can discuss what we can do for further purchases," replied Cavusoglu.

The Russian surface-to-air missile batteries are not compatible with NATO's defenses and their purchase by long-term member Turkey has unnerved other members which are already wary of Moscow's military presence in the Middle East.

The Turkish president said recently that the ties with the NATO alliance remain strong despite differences over the Russian missile deal and that Turkey is considering also a French-Italian offer to reinforce its air defense.

Defense sources in Ankara indicate that Russia is speeding up the delivery date of the missiles upon Turkey's request and that a first batch could be shipped in early 2019 and deployed in a matter of months.

The missile system can detect targets 600 km away and eliminate threats from multiple sources. Turkey is planning to deploy them at its southern borders with Syria and Iraq, where the main threat is concentrated and consists of jihadist and separatist Kurdish groups.