Turkey postpones purchasing F-35 fighters

Turkey has decided to postpone the purchase of F-35 fighters, online newspaper Sabah reported today, citing a source at the Defense Ministry.

According to the newspaper, the final decision was postponed until the middle of the year.

Early last year, the Turkish government permitted the secretariat of the defense industry to purchase the first two U.S F-35 fighters.

In general, Turkey is planning to buy 116 F-35 fighters: 100 fighters as part of the main contract, and 16 as part of the option.

Purchase of the fighters was previously postponed several times because of the U.S.'s refusal to provide Turkey with fighter software codes needed to operate the proper weaponry and undertake F-35 technical maintenance.


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