Turkish General Reha Ufuk Er highlighted Turkey’s cultural and geographical position on the border between east and west and argued the value for NATO that comes from boosting Turkey’s military capabilities.
“F-35 is set to become the major strike aircraft of the Turkish airforce. As being the bulwark on the alliance’s southern flank, Turkey’s strengthening airpower will significantly augment the alliance’s air capabilities and contribute greatly to regional and global stability,” he said.
The F-35 was developed by 14 NATO members working in partnership, including Turkey.
The development process has been a decades-long collaboration, Lockheed Martin CEO Marillyn Hewson told gathered dignitaries at the ceremony.
“And over the past decades, Turkey has been an important and valuable ally for NATO, for the United States, and the cause of global security,” she said, expressing hope that the F-35 program will serve to strengthen these relationships.
“As we look around the world, the need for strong and effective alliances is clear,” she added.
The ceremony that showcased Turkey’s history and military strength went ahead despite a US Senate vote a few days earlier that moves to block delivery of the state-of-the-art jets to Turkey, partly because of concerns about Ankara’s growing ties with Moscow.
The US Senate on Monday passed the National Defense Authorization Act that includes a clause that moves to block transfers of the F-35s to Turkey. The bill must still be passed by the House of Representatives.
US lawmakers are concerned about Turkey’s relations with Russia after Ankara pushed ahead with its plan to purchase the Russian-built S400 air defence system.
Turkey’s undersecretariat for defense industries Serdar Demirel pointed out that his nation’s partnership with the US defense industry is not just limited to the F-35s, but has existed for years and, he hopes, will continue.
Turkey's initial order is for 30 jets, but it hopes to eventually get 100.
The jets won’t actually arrive in Turkey for another two years.
Turkish pilots and maintenance staff are at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona where they will receive two years of training on the planes.
“There will be training works until 2020. The arrival of the jets in Turkey will be in 2020,” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Thursday, Anadolu Agency reported.
These two years also means there is time for the US legislation seeking to ban delivery of the jets to Turkey time to work its way through the system.
