US senators offered a bill banning Turkey from getting F-35 fighter jets until Ankara confirms Turkey is not going to receive the S-400 missile defense system from Russia.
“The prospect of Russia having access to US aircraft and technology in a Nato country, Turkey, is a serious national and global security risk", said Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen, one of the four senators who wrote the bill.
Turkey is one of the partners in the trillion-dollar-worth production of the F-35 program. However, the US officials had given Turkey the message that in case Turkey purchases Russian S-400 missile defense system, the F-35 deliveries to Turkey may be suspended.
Russia and Turkey had signed an agreement for the sale of S-400 missile defense system in December 2017. S-400 missiles are expected to be delivered by the end of this year. The first F-35 fighter jets, on the other hand, are expected to be delivered to Turkey on June 21.
