Turkey scales down $23 billion F-16 jet deal with US, minister says

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Turkey scales down $23 billion F-16 jet deal with US, minister says

ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkey has reduced its planned $23 billion acquisition of an F-16 fighter jet package from the ******* States, scrapping the purchase of 79 modernisation kits for its existing fleet, Defence Minister Yasar Guler said late on Tuesday.

NATO member Turkey earlier this year secured a deal to procure 40 F-16 fighter jets and 79 modernisation kits for its existing F-16s from the ******* States, after a long-delayed process.

“An initial payment has been made for the procurement of F-16 Block-70. A payment of $1.4 billion has been made. With this, we will buy 40 F-16 Block-70 Viper and we were going to buy 79 modernisation kits,” Guler told a parliamentary hearing.

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“We gave up on this 79. This is why we gave up: Our Turkish Aerospace Industries (TUSAS) facilities are capable of carrying out this modernisation on their own, so we deferred to them,” he said.

The ***** of the 40 new Lockheed Martin F-16 jets and ammunition for them will cost Turkey some $7 billion, Guler added.

Turkey placed its order in October 2021, two years after the ******* States kicked the country out of the fifth-generation F-35 fighter jet program over its procurement of a Russian missile defence system.

Turkey wants to re-join the F-35 programme and buy 40 new F-35 jets, Guler also said.

Turkey is one of the largest operators of F-16s, with its fleet made up of more than 200 older Block 30, 40 and 50 models.

Ankara is also interested in buying Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets, built by a consortium of Germany, Britain, Italy and Spain.

It is also developing its own combat aircraft, KAAN.

(Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu; Writing by Huseyin Hayatsever; Editing by Christopher Cushing)

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