Turkey to Pare Back $23 Billion Deal for F-16 Jets With US
- Ankara to seek offset agreement to produce some parts locally
- Turkey has tried since 2021 to buy 40 jets, modernize fleet
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Turkey is scaling back a planned $23 billion defense contract with the US to modernize NATO’s second largest fleet of F-16 fighter jets and will seek an offset agreement to produce some warplane parts locally.
Ankara has been trying since 2021 to buy 40 of Lockheed Martin Corp.’s latest generation F-16s, 79 kits to modernize its existing fleet as well as hundreds of bombs and missiles. The US approved the sale earlier this year after Turkey ratified Sweden’s membership in the alliance.