Lyneham Lad
25th Nov 2019, 19:00
In The Times. (https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/turkey-tests-russian-s-400-missile-system-on-us-made-f-16-jets-tz2lf9ckm?shareToken=286a4ad5c45baf122b276beb6c4cd928)
Turkey has begun testing a newly acquired Russian missile defence system against American-made fighter jets.
The US fears that the S-400 system (https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/nato-at-risk-from-turkey-s-new-russian-missile-system-us-says-d35fgtqvv) could help Moscow to gather intelligence on western military capabilities and its purchase by Turkey has has created a crisis within Nato. The alliance is uneasy about a member country acquiring equipment from Russia at a time when the two sides are increasingly locked in Cold War-style stand-offs.
Grainy footage on Turkish television showed the system’s radars rotating as the first trial run began this morning at a site outside Ankara. US-made F-16 fighter jets, which the Turkish air force has had for 32 years, were used as mock targets during the exercise. A notice issued by the city’s governor warned residents that the F-16 jets and other aircraft would be flying low today and tomorrow.
The S-400 was delivered to Turkey in July, after almost three years of negotiations between President Erdogan (https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/im-keeping-missile-shield-from-russia-says-erdogan-cwqhw8d9g) and President Putin. Turkey was then kicked out of the Nato alliance’s F-35 programme, which is producing the new generation of stealth fighter jets that have come into operation this year. It was feared that, should the S-400 be operational in Turkey as the F-35s were delivered, Moscow would be able to pick up information on the new technology far quicker than would normally be the case.
The pro-government Sabah newspaper reported security sources as saying that the S-400 would be deployed in Ankara and become fully operational by April 2020.
The deployment of the two systems and four batteries that Turkey has so far bought from Russia for £2 billion stalled over the summer as Washington sought to bring Mr Erdogan back into the US military fold.
Turkey had previously rejected an offer of the US-made Patriot missile system, owing to restrictions on intellectual property transfer. However, it is recent developments in Syria that have most seriously soured Turkey’s relations with the US, and driven Mr Erdogan further into Mr Putin’s embrace. Turkey’s latest attack on northeastern Syria led President Trump to pull US troops out of the area, opening the way for President Assad’s forces, backed by the Russian army, to move in.
As Mr Erdogan prepared to launch the offensive, Mr Trump sent him a letter urging him not to be a “tough guy” or a “fool”. Sources in Ankara said that Mr Erdogan threw the letter in the bin.
The Turkish leader has since travelled to Washington on a state visit, where he and Mr Trump appeared to be on warm terms again. US officials had said that the S-400 purchase was at the top of the agenda. But two days after leaving Washington, Mr Erdogan reiterated that he would “not give up” on the S-400, even if it also bought Patriots.
“We consider offers to buy just Patriots and completely put Russian S-400s aside as an interference in our sovereign rights,” he said.
The latest developments mean that US sanctions over the issue, which had so far been stayed by backroom diplomacy and by the personal friendship between Mr Erdogan and Mr Trump and their respective sons-in-law, are once again likely to be imposed.
Turkey has begun testing a newly acquired Russian missile defence system against American-made fighter jets.
The US fears that the S-400 system (https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/nato-at-risk-from-turkey-s-new-russian-missile-system-us-says-d35fgtqvv) could help Moscow to gather intelligence on western military capabilities and its purchase by Turkey has has created a crisis within Nato. The alliance is uneasy about a member country acquiring equipment from Russia at a time when the two sides are increasingly locked in Cold War-style stand-offs.
Grainy footage on Turkish television showed the system’s radars rotating as the first trial run began this morning at a site outside Ankara. US-made F-16 fighter jets, which the Turkish air force has had for 32 years, were used as mock targets during the exercise. A notice issued by the city’s governor warned residents that the F-16 jets and other aircraft would be flying low today and tomorrow.
The S-400 was delivered to Turkey in July, after almost three years of negotiations between President Erdogan (https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/im-keeping-missile-shield-from-russia-says-erdogan-cwqhw8d9g) and President Putin. Turkey was then kicked out of the Nato alliance’s F-35 programme, which is producing the new generation of stealth fighter jets that have come into operation this year. It was feared that, should the S-400 be operational in Turkey as the F-35s were delivered, Moscow would be able to pick up information on the new technology far quicker than would normally be the case.
The pro-government Sabah newspaper reported security sources as saying that the S-400 would be deployed in Ankara and become fully operational by April 2020.
The deployment of the two systems and four batteries that Turkey has so far bought from Russia for £2 billion stalled over the summer as Washington sought to bring Mr Erdogan back into the US military fold.
Turkey had previously rejected an offer of the US-made Patriot missile system, owing to restrictions on intellectual property transfer. However, it is recent developments in Syria that have most seriously soured Turkey’s relations with the US, and driven Mr Erdogan further into Mr Putin’s embrace. Turkey’s latest attack on northeastern Syria led President Trump to pull US troops out of the area, opening the way for President Assad’s forces, backed by the Russian army, to move in.
As Mr Erdogan prepared to launch the offensive, Mr Trump sent him a letter urging him not to be a “tough guy” or a “fool”. Sources in Ankara said that Mr Erdogan threw the letter in the bin.
The Turkish leader has since travelled to Washington on a state visit, where he and Mr Trump appeared to be on warm terms again. US officials had said that the S-400 purchase was at the top of the agenda. But two days after leaving Washington, Mr Erdogan reiterated that he would “not give up” on the S-400, even if it also bought Patriots.
“We consider offers to buy just Patriots and completely put Russian S-400s aside as an interference in our sovereign rights,” he said.
The latest developments mean that US sanctions over the issue, which had so far been stayed by backroom diplomacy and by the personal friendship between Mr Erdogan and Mr Trump and their respective sons-in-law, are once again likely to be imposed.