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Why Washington removed Turkey from the F-35 programme
Summary
A retrospective on the 17 July 2019 decision that followed Ankara's acceptance of Russian S-400 missile systems.
What happened on 17 July 2019, and why did it matter for NATO? On that date the United States removed Turkey, a NATO ally, from the Joint Strike Fighter programme. The decision followed Ankara's acquisition of the Russian S-400 missile system.
The sequence was short. On 12 July 2019 Turkey received its first shipment of the S-400 from Russia, defying calls from the United States and NATO to cancel the deal. Five days later, Washington acted on the consequences.
The removal carried a concrete cost. Turkey had planned to buy 100 F-35 Lightning II jets, and its exclusion ended that prospect within the programme.
For readers in Ukraine and the wider region, the episode showed a NATO member taking delivery of Russian military equipment over the objections of its allies, and the United States responding by cutting Turkey out of a major fighter project. The two dated steps, delivery on 12 July and removal on 17 July, set out the immediate chain of events between Ankara, Moscow and Washington.
