Economics

U.S. Suspends Turkey’s Role in F-35 Over Russian Missile System

  • Trump administration says ‘impossible’ to have F-35, S-400
  • Phase-out of Turkish role will take until March of next year
F-35B Lightning fighter jet

Photographer: Mark Wilson/Getty Images

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The U.S. has suspended Turkey’s ability to buy the F-35 fighter jet and help build it because of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s decision to begin receiving parts for the Russian-made S-400 missile defense system, the Pentagon said.

But it’s an “orderly wind-down” that won’t be complete until March 2020, Ellen Lord, the Defense Department’s undersecretary for acquisition, told reporters Wednesday.