Turkey hires ex-Blockheed executive to push for buyback of F-35s Israel Defense According to a report by foreignlobby, the Turkish defence industry has hired a former senior member of Lockheed Martin, in order to increase its pressure to join the F-35 program. Stephen Williams, the company's former regional president for Continental Europe, operates through Alexandria-based Pentagon Strategies under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). He told the Ministry of Justice that he works for SSTEK Savunma Sanayi Teknolojiler (Ankara) and to head the Turkish Defense Industries Corporation (SSB), the government ministry that runs Turkey's defense industry. The contract that dictates the terms of Williams' participation should be uploaded to the FARA website shortly. Williams is best known in the F-35 community, having left Lockheed Martin in the summer of 2016 to become CEO of a North American subsidiary of Danish defense and aerospace company Terma, which it says makes "more than 70 critical parts for the F-35," including It advanced lightweight composite components and radar electronics. Williams established Pentagon Strategies in Virginia in March 2020. He did not respond to a request for comment. But his filing comes just over a month after SSTEK appointed Washington law firm Arnold & Porter "to advise on the strategy of SSB and Turkish contractors on how to stay within the stealth aircraft programme." Source Link