Turkey Was America's Most Loyal Fighter Buyer. That Just Ended.

Ankara is diversifying its fighter fleet.

A Turkish Lockheed Martin F-16 in 2011. Rob Schleiffert photo via Wikimedia Commons

by PAUL IDDON

Turkey’s multi-billion-dollar deal for Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets from the United Kingdom—valued at either $10.7 billion or approximately $7 billion depending on which government you believe—is significant in many ways. For Britain, it’s the biggest warplane order in two decades. For Turkey, it’s the first time in more than 70 years the country has imported a combat aircraft that wasn’t American-designed.

The outcome certainly wasn’t inevitable.

Turkey joined the U.S. Joint Strike Fighter project in 2002. As part of its participation, Ankara planned on acquiring 100 Lockheed Martin F-35 stealth fighters.

Those plans collapsed in 2019 after the Turkish government ordered S-400 air-defense systems from Russia despite repeated U.S. warnings. Washington suspended Ankara from the JSF program.

With the F-35 no longer an option, Turkey explored alternatives. It requested Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70s as an interim solution in October 2021 and began negotiating the present Eurofighter purchase in 2023. The F-16 order wasn’t surprising. The Eurofighter request, on the other hand, signaled the coming end of an era.

Even among NATO member states and Western allies, a foreign air force equipping itself exclusively with American-made combat aircraft is rare. For example, Israel primarily used French fighter jets in its early years before operating an all-American fighter fleet. Several other close U.S. allies, including European and Arab nations, operate mixed fleets of American and European warplanes.

Not Turkey. From the dawn of the jet age, Ankara has consistently sought American-designed—though not always American-built—fighters for its air force.