Five years ago, Turkey started the implementation of the agreement under which it received four divisions of Russian S-400 air defence systems. The US can facilitate the transfer of these systems to the Ukrainian army.
The fight for S-400 for Ukraine has been going on for a long time
Due to Ankara's official decision to purchase Russian S-400 air defence systems, the United States excluded Turkey from the F-35 program.
However, the punishment from official Washington was nullified when the team of Recep Tayyip Erdogan permitted Sweden to join NATO.
According to the deputy head of the US State Department, Victoria Nuland, the US is considering lifting the ban on the sale of the F-35 if Turkey gives up the Russian S-400 air defence systems.
What is essential to understand is that as early as May 2023, the White House offered to transfer Russian S-400 air defence systems to Ukraine, but Ankara refused.
As a result, Turkey was left with four S-400 divisions, but Defense Express believes that due to sanctions against the Russian Federation, Ankara hardly knows where to service and where to get missiles for the S-400 in order not to fall under American sanctions.
Can Turkey transfer Russian S-400 air defence systems to Ukraine?
So far, journalists have not found out whether Erdogan is ready to make a favourable decision regarding Ukraine.
According to journalists, the exchange of the S-400 for the same Patriot and admission to the F-35 means the inclusion of the Turkish defence company in the production of this aircraft with a guarantee of orders for the production of components for decades to come.
In this case, Turkey can get the unblocking of a number of other possible joint projects against the background of the shortage of weapons in the world. On the other hand, however, Ankara has its own aviation program that has begun to yield results, with the KAAN development (TF-X) nearing its first flight, but not ready for serial production until the end of the decade.
According to analysts, official Ankara's decision regarding the S-400 and F-35 is quite possibly political.
