Turkey Orders First Fighter Jets from Lockheed Martin
Turkey has decided to place a firm order with U.S. aerospace giant Lockheed Martin for two F-35 stealth fighter jets, a defense source said on Wednesday.
"Two orders will be placed," the source told Agence France Presse on condition of anonymity, adding that they were due to be delivered in 2015.
NATO member Turkey plans to buy 100 of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) jets over the next decade for about $16 billion (11 billion euros).
The purchase order was decided at a meeting Tuesday of of the Undersecretariat for Defense Industry (SSM) chaired by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The SSM said on its website that Turkey remained a strong supporter of the JSF program.
"In this framework, as planned and declared previously, Turkey maintains its projection to buy a total of 100 F-35 A aircraft," it added.
Turkey's air force is looking to replace its aging F-4 and older F-16s jets.
The F-35 has been touted as the ultimate stealth attack plane able to evade radar detection.
Source: Agence France Presse
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