Foreign Military Sales

The United States is planning to go ahead with the delivery of the first F-35 fighter jet to Turkey on June 21, despite an ongoing debate in the US Congress on whether to oppose it, news website Defense News reported on Wednesday night.

According to Defense News, Lockheed Martin told the news website that it is preparing for a rollout ceremony at its production facilities next week.

Turkey's top diplomat has expressed his confidence that the United States administration will not block the delivery of the Joint Strike Fighters, the F-35s, to Turkey despite some measures being discussed in the U.S. Congress.

Turkey may buy Russian Su-57 fighter jets if the United States decide to suspend the delivery of F-35 jets to the country, in response to the purchase of Russian S-400 anti-missile systems, Turkish newspaper Yeni Safak reported Sunday.

Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Ononera welcomed the deployment of US F-35A fighters at the Japanese Air Force Base in Misawa, said local Asahi Shimbun newspaper quoted by Focus News Agency.

Lockheed Martin Corp was awarded a $3.7 billion interim payment for fifty F-35 jet fighters that are earmarked for non-U.S. customers, the Pentagon said late on July 28.

Lockheed and its partners have been producing the jets under a placeholder agreement known as an "undefinitized contract action."

Turkey expects to take delivery of the first two of a batch of 24 more Lockheed Martin F-35 aircraft in 2018, Defense Minister Fikri Isik said on Thursday.

Isik said Turkey would buy a total of 24 F-35s over the next three years, of which six, including the two expected in 2018, had already been ordered.

[Reuters]

Israel is to purchase 14 F-35 stealth fighters from US aerospace giant Lockheed Martin at a cost of around $110 million each, the defence ministry said Feb. 22.        

Turkey is planning to buy four more F-35 Joint Strike Fighters from the U.S., in addition to the two it had already ordered, the country's defense industry agency said.