Stealth aircraft

Turkey faces removal from the U.S.-led F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) Program if it continues its purchase of S-400 air defense systems from Russia, according to a Pentagon report obtained by Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency.

The U.S. Defense Department has delivered a report to Congress detailing implications of Turkey receiving 100 F-35 fighter jets, five people familiar with the report said, removing a key hurdle to concluding the deal.

The U.S. will deliver two more F-35 fighter jets to Turkey in 2019, the military head of the F-35 program said on Oct. 1.

SOFIA, Bulgaria (BulgarianMilitary.com), 19 September 2018, Author: Boyko Nikolov, Photo credit: Pixabay

A joint US House and Senate conference committee upheld on Thursday restrictions on the sale of Russian F-35s to Turkey in its report on the Department of Defense Appropriations bill for 2019, Greek-American media have reported.

A Turkish fighter pilot has carried out the first flight of the F-35 jet in the U.S. as part of ongoing training, the Turkish General Staff said on Tuesday.

The F-35 Joint Program Office on Aug. 16 said it would continue to execute its current program plans with all partners and to abide by any future policy directions. 

US President Donald Trump has approved a defense budget law delaying the delivery of F-35 fighter jets to Turkey.

The U.S. Senate overwhelmingly approved a $717 billion defense policy bill on August 1, which includes an amendment that prohibits the sale of F-35 jets to Turkey until Pentagon issues a report in 90 days.

Ankara said on July 24 it was not expecting any problems with the delivery of the F-35 fighter jets despite a recent U.S. Senate decision to block the sales of the advanced aircraft to Turkey.