MoD Maintains its Positions on S-400, CAATSA, and F-35

20 Mar 2025, 22:41
3 mins

While keeping its position on CAATSA sanctions and a prospective return to the F-35 program, Türkiye maintains the S-400 air defence system in inventory.

Sources from the Ministry of National Defence (Turkish MoD) provided updates Türkiye's defence procurement policies, including developments on the F-35 program, CAATSA sanctions, F-16 Block 70 fighter procurement, and the Eurofighter Typhoon purchase process.

"Türkiye was excluded from the program on the pretext of the S-400 procurement," Türkiye's Position on the F-35 and CAATSA MoD sources underlined. "This is unlawful. Should CAATSA sanctions be released, the resuming of the procurement process would be assessed."
TurDef considers this evidence that Türkiye's removal from the program had more factors than the S-400 acquisition. Moreover, the focus on an "unlawful exclusion" implies that the U.S., in enforcing international legal standards, is in charge of fixing this state of affairs. Türkiye expects the United States to start easing CAATSA restrictions.

Recent world events support MSB's stance even more. Despite its operational S-400 air defence systems, the United States has offered F-35 planes to India, therefore supporting the case that Türkiye's exclusion from the program was motivated more by political than technical or security factors.
Although others contend that NATO membership distinguishes Türkiye from India, this difference becomes more insignificant in view of U.S. policy changes under President Donald Trump. Trump's changing attitude toward NATO's future calls for Türkiye's exclusion from the F-35 program because her alliance membership is invalid. Furthermore, supporting Türkiye's stance in the next discussions are Portugal's and Canada's recent choices to cancel F-35 acquisitions in favour of the French Rafale.

F-16 Block Procurement

Declaring, "This process is being conducted in coordination with our U.S. partners," MoD sources verified that the F-16 Block 70 procurement process is moving as expected.

Negotiations Regarding Eurofighter Typhoon

About Türkiye's possible purchase of Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft, MoD sources said that during the last week there has not been any noteworthy development. While conversations with the UK Ministry of Defence and corporate representatives last, BAE Systems is reviewing its formal pricing proposal.