United States has officially announced that it is removing Turkey from F-35 program

The US Department of Defense (Pentagon) has notified Ankara that Turkey has officially been removed from the F-35 program. The U.S. defense official did not elaborate on how the notification was carried out.

The official noted that the statement said that the Joint Memorandum of Understanding, which was signed by the participants in 2006 and signed by Turkey on January 26, 2007, has been terminated and Turkey is not included in the new memorandum. The 2006 agreement was updated with 8 remaining partners and no new co-participants were added to the program, the official said.

Turkey had participated in the F-35 Joint offensive aircraft program (JSF) as a joint manufacturer with the Joint Memorandum of understanding. Participants in the program included Turkey, as well as the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy, the Netherlands, Australia, Denmark, Canada and Norway. Turkey had pledged to buy 100 F-35A aircraft in the first place.

In 2018, ownership of 4 F-35 aircraft was granted to Turkey, but the planes were subjected to training programs in the United States, in which Turkish pilots also participated. Later, 2 more F-35 aircraft were given ownership. However, since the S-400 crisis broke out between Turkey and the United States, these 6 aircraft were not transferred to Turkey and it was decided to buy them for the US Air Force under the 2020 defense budget.

Turkey was also producing 1005 parts for the aircraft. The participation of Turkish companies in this production was largely suspended. As of December 2020, the United States had found new suppliers for all 1005 parts.