Turkey Negotiates Joint Production of S-400s with Russia

Turkey emphasizes the importance of the contract under discussion with Russia for the acquisition of the second batch of Russian S-400 "Triumf" air defense systems, as it expects to partially gain the technology of these systems and begin joint production.

According to Razm.info, Ismail Demir, the head of Turkey's Defense Industry Directorate (SSB), stated that the process is being prolonged because negotiations are ongoing to fully implement their requirements.

It is notable that back in May 2020, Dmitry Shugaev, the director of Russia's Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation, announced that the Turkish side's partial involvement was planned during the production process of the second batch of these systems.

SSB head Ismail Demir further asserted that Turkey's exclusion from the American F-35 fighter jet program will force other program members to incur an additional expense of $500-600 million, as some essential parts for the airplane production are manufactured by Turkey. This means that both Turkish and American companies will suffer losses, which will impact the production and supply processes.

It is worth mentioning that Turkey was a member of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program until 2019. However, following the receipt of the first batch of Russian S-400 air defense systems in June 2019, Turkey was officially removed from the program.