The US State Department announced on Saturday that it has decided to approve the sale of avionics software upgrades to Turkey’s existing fleet of F-16s.
The deal, valued at $259 million, is the first sale of military equipment to Turkey in recent years.
Turkey has also requested new F-16s and nearly 80 upgrade kits in a deal valued at $20 billion. This raised congressional objections given Turkey’s acquisition of Russian missile systems and the use of F-16s to repeatedly violate Greek airspace and challenge the sovereignty of parts of the Aegean. The influential chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Bob Menendez, was particularly vocal in his objections.
On Monday, Reuters reported that the software upgrade deal was “moving forward … after congressional committee leaders gave informal approval.”
“Turkey is a long-standing and valued NATO ally,” a State Department spokesman said in a statement. “The Biden administration supports Turkey’s efforts to bring its F-16 avionics up to standard.”
The State Department notes that the proposed sale will not change the military balance of power in the region. Lolckheed Martin Aeronautics will be the contractor for the upgraded aircraft.
Greece has opposed this decision many times, enlisting Philhellenes congressmen to help, however, apparently, the United States desperately needs Turkey as a NATO ally, and also clearly hopes that this decision will affect Erdogan’s complicity regarding tightening sanctions against Russia .
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