The United States is set to move forward with the transfer of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey, as confirmed by U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan on Tuesday. This decision comes shortly after Ankara granted approval for Sweden to join NATO.
Turkey, previously posing a hurdle in Sweden’s path to NATO membership, had submitted a request in October 2021 to purchase $20 billion worth of Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N) F-16 fighters and approximately 80 modernization kits for its existing warplanes.
Speaking ahead of the NATO summit in Vilnius, Sullivan emphasized that President Joe Biden has been unequivocal in his support for the transfer, without specifying a timeline. He stated, “He has placed no caveats on this … He intends to move forward with that transfer.”
Previously, U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez, a Democrat who had impeded the transfer, indicated on Monday that he is in discussions with the Biden administration regarding his hold and that he may reach a decision “in the next week,” hinting at a possible lifting of the hold.
While both Turkish officials and the Biden administration have denied any connection between Ankara’s approval of Sweden’s NATO accession and the F-16 sale, some diplomats and analysts believe that Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan may have used Swedish membership as leverage to secure the warplanes deal, which Biden agreed to.
Camille Grand, a defense specialist at the European Council on Foreign Relations think tank, remarked, “There seems to have been a big push by the Biden administration to allow Turkey to modernize its air force and acquire new F-16s. This push together with the Swedish efforts on the PKK front might have played an important role in convincing Erdogan to move forward on Sweden.”
The timing of both the F-16 transfer and Sweden’s NATO entry remains uncertain. Turkey’s parliament is not scheduled to convene until after the summer, and Hungary also needs to ratify the accession treaty. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg mentioned that Erdogan had agreed to expedite ratification in parliament, but no specific timeframe was provided.
