US officials believe the US may soon put its planned sale of US F-35 fighter jets to Turkey on hold over Turkey’s recent decision to purchase Russian S-400 missile-defense systems despite US warnings.
The US is concerned that the use of a Russian missile-defense system by Turkey, a NATO ally, may undermine the security of F-35 fighter jets. As acting assistant secretary of defense Katie Wheelbarger explained: “The S-400 is a computer. The F-35 is a computer. You don’t hook your computer to your adversary’s computer and that’s basically what we would be doing.”
Some analysts believe that if Turkey refuses to change course, Washington may seriously reconsider whether Turkey should remain part of NATO.
Read more: U.S. may soon pause preparations for delivering F-35s to Turkey
