The head of defense industry also said that Turkish enterprises continue to work within the framework of the U.S. fifth generation fighter aircraft project F-35, despite Washington’s decision to exclude them from this programme
Ismail Demir, head of Turkey’s Defence Industry Authority (DIA), said on Monday that the Russian S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems (SAMs) are ready to be put into service. The 24TV channel reported.
“The C-400s are ready for use, the armed forces will decide when the need arises”, – the channel quoted Demir as saying.
The DRM confirmed this information to TASS. “Yes, [Ismail Demir] did indeed report this today in Ankara,” the agency said.
In addition, the defence chief also said that Turkish enterprises were continuing to work on the US F-35 fifth-generation fighter jet project despite Washington’s decision to exclude them from the programme.
Meanwhile, Demir said if Ankara wanted to, “there would already be a second C-400 regiment in Turkey today”. “That would be the case if we were taking the quick and easy route, but we are aiming for the maximum. With the information we will learn from the C-400 experience, we plan to reach the C-400 level in our work to build our own SAMs by 2025-2026,” the defence chief added.
Russia and Turkey signed a contract in 2017 for Moscow to supply Ankara with C-400 systems. Turkey was the first NATO country to buy the systems from Russia. Ankara’s decision provoked a strongly negative reaction from Washington and the alliance as a whole. The US has not stopped trying to get Turkey to give up its Russian SAMs. Erdogan said in October that Ankara did not intend to give up the C-400s, despite pressure from Washington. He also rejected threats of sanctions and suggested that the U.S. should actually try to impose them.