Congress to make determination on F-35s for Turkey Defense officials have handed lawmakers a congressionally mandated report assessing the impact of Turkey’s removal from the F-35 program. REUTERS/Axel Schmidt.

By Jack Detsch

Nov 23, 2018

Congress now has its chance to evaluate Turkey’s participation in building the F-35 stealth jet after Defense Secretary Jim Mattis delivered a report to Capitol Hill on the NATO ally’s $12 billion contribution to the program. Lawmakers are weighing whether to kick Turkish firms out of the F-35 program amid fraught relations with the NATO ally. Turkey has shown interest in purchasing up to 100 of the latest-generation aircraft and has already taken possession of two of them, but Congress froze further deliveries pending the report on the US-Turkey relationship, including Turkey’s participation in the fighter jet’s supply chain.

The Pentagon shared a classified version of the report with Congress on Nov. 16 that outlines possible delays the program would face from removing Ankara. Defense officials were quick to point out that the report would not impact the US military-to-military relationship with Turkey. “Nothing has changed in our relationship with Turkey,” a US defense official told Al-Monitor. “The ball is in Congress’ court.”

Turkey builds the fuselage for the F-35 and is establishing engine depots for the airplane throughout Europe. Lockheed Martin handed over the first two Joint Strike Fighters to Turkey at an elaborate ceremony in Texas in August. The Pentagon now expects members of Congress to come back with more requests for information, which could lead to a classified briefing on the report from Mattis. The defense secretary has jostled with lawmakers over keeping Ankara in the program, even as Turkey has detained several US citizens, sought to acquire the Russian-made S-400 missile-defense system system and engaged in cross-border attacks against Syrian Kurds helping US troops fight the Islamic State.

“If the Turkish supply chain was disrupted today, it would result in an aircraft production break, delaying delivery of 50-75 F-35s, and would take approximately 18-24 months to re-source parts and recover,” the defense chief said in a letter to lawmakers this summer.

Should the United States decide to remove Turkey from the F-35 supply chain, it would also have to figure out how to reimburse Ankara for the jets, and find new suppliers for the airplane’s fuselage and other parts.