Turkey resist US as Russian missile defence arrives
Turkey has received the first parts of a Russian S-400 missile defence system despite opposition from the US.
The move will anger the US, which has warned that Turkey cannot have both the S-400 anti-aircraft defence system and US F-35 fighter jets.
Turkey and the US are Nato allies – but Turkey has also been establishing closer links with Russia.
What’s the argument about?
Turkey has signed up to buying 100 US F-35 warplanes and has invested heavily in the F-35 programme. Turkish companies produce 937 of the plane’s parts.
But Turkey has also pursued an increasingly independent defence policy amid strained ties with the US and Europe. It has purchased Russia’s advanced S-400 air defence system for $2.5bn and sent members of its armed forces to Russia for training.
Turkey is a partner country in this programme. Its aviation industry manufactures hundreds of parts for the aircraft and it is also slated to be a regional maintenance hub for the F-35’s engines.
All of this is in jeopardy. The US and the aircraft’s manufacturers are already investigating how they can move production to other countries.
So why is Washington so concerned about Turkey buying the S-400?
For a start it is almost unprecedented for a Nato country to buy such a sophisticated piece of Russian military hardware. Greece operates the Russian S-300 but these it obtained indirectly.
The S-400 system is highly sophisticated; this is an area in which Russian technology is impressive. But there are practical problems too.