Just a year ago, Ankara obtained authorization from Washington to acquire 40 F-16Vs and 79 kits to modernize its own F-16 C/D block 50 to Block 70 standards, after President RT Erdogan announced that he was authorizing Sweden to join NATO, after two years of standoff with Stockholm and Washington.
The overall contract was then valued at $20 billion, and was to enable the Turkish air force, from the American point of view, to respond to the modernization of the Russian air force, in an increasingly tense context between Moscow and NATO, against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine.
Since then, announcements, often contradictory, have multiplied from Turkey on this subject, whether it concerns the acquisition of 40 Eurofighters Typhoon proposed by London and Madrid, or 20 to 40 American F-35s, against the backdrop of normalization of relations with this strategic ally to defend the southern front of the Alliance, and control the Middle East and the Caucasus, for Washington.
With Donald Trump, who is known to have better relations with RT Erdogan than Joe Biden, set to arrive in the White House soon, Ankara's strategy to modernize Turkish fighter jets appears to be moving towards a very different trajectory than it was a year ago.
Indeed, if the order for 40 new F-16Vs has been confirmed, its 79 F-16 C/Ds will be modernized by the national aeronautical industry. At the same time, the acquisition of Typhoon progresses, while the development of the Kaan brings Ankara closer every day to strategic autonomy in this highly strategic area.
In this section:
Turkey validates order for 40 F-16Vs but turns its back on 79 Block 70 kits to modernize its F-16 C/D Block 40/50s
This week, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar confirmed at a press conference: having signed the Letter of Order (LOO) and the Letter of Acceptance (LOA), concerning the order of 40 new F-16Vs, for the Turkish air force, from Lockheed Martin.
These aircraft will initially replace the recently retired F-5s and F-4s, to maintain a fighter fleet of 275 combat aircraft, to which are added 90 F-16s used for crew training, awaiting the arrival of the TFX Kaan intermediate generation fighter, and, perhaps, the Eurofighter order. Typhoon and F-35s.
On the other hand, the order for 79 kits that would have allowed the upgrade of as many F-16 Block 50+ to this standard is no longer relevant, according to the Minister of Defense. Indeed, like the modernization of the F-16 Block 30 by the Özgür I program, the F-16 Block 40 and Block 50, which today form the bulk of the Turkish fighter fleet, will be modernized by the national defense aeronautics industry as part of the Özgür II program.
This program will involve the integration of a new AESA antenna radar, the modernization of all the aircraft's communication and navigation systems, the carriage of the ASELPOD pod, and the possibility of implementing several new precision munitions of national design.
The schedule, volume and price of the Özgür II program have not yet been announced. It is likely that it will take over from the Özgür I program, once the last F-16 Block 30s have been modernized, i.e. within a few months to a year, at the same rate of 18 to 24 aircraft per year.
Ankara targets 40 Eurofighters simultaneously Typhoon and 40 F-35s, awaiting the Kaan
This modernization, like the purchase of F-16Vs, however, represents only one aspect of the strategy of modernizing the Turkish air force. This is based, in parallel, on two other international initiatives, the negotiations for the acquisition of European Eurofighter fighters Typhoon, and the resumption of negotiations to acquire American F-35s, and especially on the entry into service of the Kaan intermediate generation fighter.
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Hello, your analysis is very interesting and relevant. For Greece, however, nothing is lost; it would be in its interest to adhere to the program of the Rafale F5 with the aim of acquiring several examples of this aircraft which could hold a credible position against the F35 and Kaan. Best regards, Philippe
Specifically, the Greek Defense Minister indicated this week that he would indeed order a 4th IDF but not a Rafale additional, but no Rafale, because they want to finance the purchase of the F-35A. In my opinion, this is a huge mistake for Athens. It is also a mistake for Paris, which has not really given substance to the defense agreements signed in 2021. It would have been necessary to study the permanent deployment of Rafale (Marine because the AAE is on the bone) and an air defense company or something, in the country, to show our commitment. We did nothing, and the Americans know very well how to exploit this type of hesitation.
Hello Fabrice, just to correct the Turkish invasion and not the invitation of 1974. At least I think so.
cdt
Autocorrect rogneugneu!!
No problem, we understood that they had invited themselves...