U.S.-Turkey Relations - F-35 Fighter Jet Programme

What is the issue?

The U.S. recently terminated Turkey’s participation in the F-35 fighter jet programme in response to Turkey’s purchase of the S-400 missile defence system from Russia.
The US said that the sale by Russia violates the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, leading to a crisis in US-Turkey relations.

What is the INF Treaty?

This is a landmark agreement which has been credited with curtailing the arms race in Europe towards the end of the Cold War.
The INF Treaty was signed between the United States and the Soviet Union in 1987.
Under this, both powers agreed to destroy two categories of lethal missile systems from their own stocks as a means to decelerate the nuclear arms race.
There was a considerable build-up of missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads by both sides in their European spheres of influence.
As this threatened the security of the entire continent, an expansive treaty as that of the INF was felt necessary.
The treaty came to fruition after years of negotiations during the leadership of US President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.
The treaty provided for the elimination of intermediate-range and medium-range missile stocks.
Importantly, it also allowed verification by observers from both sides, thus leading to the dismantling of 2,619 missiles in 3 years.

What happened after 1991?

After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the successor state of Russia remained bound by the INF obligation.
However, the end of bipolarity in global geopolitics diminished the treaty’s utility.
The rise of other military powers, especially China, led to calls for converting the INF into a multilateral agreement.
This effort was made by both the US and Russia at the United Nations General Assembly in 2007, but it did not deliver results.
In February 2019, the Trump administration announced that the US was suspending its participation in the treaty.
This was a reaction to what the U.S. believed as Russia’s building of a prohibited missile.

What is the F-35 programme?

The Joint Strike Fighter programme (F-35 programme) is described as the “arms deal of the century”.
The F-35 programme is an international weapons contract between the US and its allies.
It is aimed at developing “fifth-generation” fighter jets.
The signatories to the deal contributed capital for the research and development of the F-35 jet.

The contract partners of the US in this treaty are categorized based on the quantum of their investment in the program.
Level 1 partner UK pledged $2.2 billion to the program, followed by Italy and Netherlands at Level 2 with around $1 billion.
Finally, Turkey, along with four others at Level 3, made contributions between $100-200 million.
Based on the levels, the participant countries were offered technological transfers, training of pilots, and prospects for local manufacturing.

How is the U.S.-Turkey relations?

Turkey and the US have been strategic allies since the Cold War, and both are members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO).
NATO is, notably, a military alliance that was formed in 1949 to counter the Soviet influence.
However, in the recent past, Turkey has drifted away from the US over serious differences in forging alliances as part of the Syrian War.

What is the U.S.’s present decision?

Turkey recently acquired the S-400 missile system from Russia.
[It is an advanced anti-aircraft system capable of defending against stealth aircraft that can evade radars, much like the F-35.]
The US is concerned that this might jeopardise non-disclosable information regarding the F-35 jets.
It fears that Russian engineers who would arrive in Turkey to install the S-400 might get access to such sensitive data.
It could provide Russia access to the technological secrets underpinning NATO’s most sophisticated weapon systems.
So the U.S. announced to terminate Turkey’s participation in the F-35 fighter jet programme.
It also threatens to impose economic sanctions on Turkey under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA).
It is estimated that the decision to cancel the F-35’s sale to Turkey would ensure losses of between $500-600 million for the US.
For Turkey, it would result in losing out on manufacturing opportunities, and its pilots would have to cease their training in the US.

How does the future look?

America, under the Obama administration, refused to sell Turkey the Patriot anti-missile system.
[Patriot (MIM-104) is a long-range, all-altitude, all-weather air defence system to counter tactical ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and advanced aircraft.
Turkey considered this essential for its air defence in the context of the Syrian civil war.]
So, Turkey’s decision to acquire the Russian systems emanated in part from this earlier U.S. refusal.
Turkey’s forced ejection from the F-35 project now could also turn out to be counterproductive.
Reportedly, Turkey is planning to buy advanced Sukhoi fighter jets (the Su-35 and/or the Su-57) from Russia to compensate for the loss of the F-35 planes.
However, it could only further complicate the issue of NATO interoperability.

Source: The Indian Express, The Hindu