Türkiye's Defense Industry Executive Committee approved the country's entry into the manufacturing phase of the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program, Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul announced Tuesday following a meeting at the Undersecretariat for Defence Industries in Ankara.
Gonul said officials at the undersecretariat were cleared to begin the Council of Ministers process for signing a memorandum of understanding covering the production stage. He noted that nine participating nations had already agreed on a framework document, which he expected to sign before the end of the month, with a separate bilateral agreement also nearing completion.
The committee also reviewed proposals from South African firm Denel and Italy's AgustaWestland as part of Türkiye's broader next-generation warplane evaluation, which is intended to meet Turkish Air Force requirements in the 2010s.
On a separate procurement, the committee authorized the undersecretariat to purchase 30 additional F-16 aircraft from US manufacturer Lockheed Martin through foreign military sales. Gonul said those planes incorporate more advanced technology than domestically produced F-16s and are expected to cost around 1.6 billion USD.
The minister estimated the price of 100 F-35 aircraft at more than 10 billion USD. Regarding helicopter proposals, he noted that Denel's aircraft had been tested abroad but had not yet undergone trials in Türkiye.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in December 2006, in its own words.