Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II

The United States has struck a preliminary deal to buy F-35 jets from Lockheed Martin worth about $13 billion, clearing the way for a larger multi-year purchase that aims to bring the cost per jet down to $80 million by 2020, sources said.

Turkey's plans to buy the Russian S-400 missile defense system would give a weapon used by "known foes" of NATO deep insight into the radar-evading F-35 fighter jets arriving in growing numbers in Europe, the top U.S. Air Force general in Europe said.

Blocking the delivery of the F-35 fighter jets to Turkey over its procurement of the Russian-made the S-400 air defense system would bring about consequences, said Turkey's foreign minister in a meeting with two senior United States senators on the margins of the NATO Summit. 

The US government has expressed its opposition to legislative initiatives by Congress to restrict the transfer of F-35 fighter jets to Turkey in a letter signed by the director of the White House's Office of Management and Budget, Mick Mulvaney.

The US government has expressed its opposition to legislative initiatives by Congress to restrict the transfer of F-35 fighter jets to Turkey in a letter signed by the director of the White House's Office of Management and Budget, Mick Mulvaney.

The Pentagon on July 2 said Turkish pilots and maintenance personnel who are being trained on the F-35 fighter jet in the state of Arizona will begin flight academics soon. 

Turkey has vowed to continue its contribution to global peace and security as a credible NATO ally on the day it officially received its first F-35A stealth fighter from the contractor Lockheed Martin in a symbolic but milestone ceremony at the aerospace's company headquarters in Fort Worth, Texas on June 21.

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.

The delivery of the United States F-35 Joint Strike Fighter jets to Turkey will be on June 21 as planned, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said on June 4 following a meeting U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Washington.

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.