RAF FAIRFORD, England: Turkey’s plans to buy the Russian S-400 missile defense system would give a weapon used by “known foes” of NATO deep insight into the radar-evading F-35 fighter jets arriving in growing numbers in Europe, the top US Air Force general in Europe said.
General Tod Wolters, also the NATO Allied Air Commander, told Reuters the issue was worrying, but he was working to maintain strong military ties with the NATO member for now.
“Anything that an S-400 can do that affords it the ability to better understand a capability like the F-35 is certainly not to the advantage of the coalition,” said Wolters, who was in Britain for an air chiefs conference in London and the Royal International Air Tattoo at RAF Fairford.
US and NATO officials want to prevent the Russian-built defense system from accumulating information about Lockheed Martin F-35 fighter jets just as they are gaining a foothold in Europe.
Norway, Britain and Italy will have a total of 40 F-35s in Europe by the end of the year, with 24 more to be delivered next year and the Netherlands to receive two jets as well, according to a spokesman for the US Air Force.
Turkey’s plans to buy the Russian air and missile defense system have raised tensions with Washington, and US lawmakers are seeking to block the transfer of any F-35 jets to Turkey.
A senior US official last month said Turkey was a key NATO ally, but its purchases of the F-35 would be at risk and Ankara would face sanctions if it proceeded to buy the S-400.
Ankara received its first F-35 jet at the Lockheed plant in Texas last month, although the aircraft will stay in the United States for training.
“The Turks have to make a choice. They’re either going to be part of NATO or they’re going to move into the Russian camp in terms of defense,” said David Deptula, a retired Air Force general and industry consultant.
He said NATO would never integrate an S-400 system into its integrated air defense system because it would give the Russian-built system data about operating tactics and procedures that could be transferred to other users.
Operating an F-35 nearby would also allow the S-400 system to glean key information about range of detection and other characteristics of the aircraft, potentially undermining any element of surprise.
Wolters said NATO was worried about “how much, for how long and how close” any F-35s would be operated near the S-400 systems. “All those would have to be determined. We do know for right now it is a challenge.”
But he said his contacts with the Turkish air force remained “rock solid” despite the dispute over the S-400, focusing on current security threats.
“For right now, all the conversations surrounding that challenge have not hindered at all the strong relationship that we have with the Turkish air force and the great alliance that the two nations have together,” he said. “We want to make sure that for now we’re continuing on that path.”
Turkey’s plan to buy Russian defense system a risk for NATO: US general
Turkey’s plan to buy Russian defense system a risk for NATO: US general
- US and NATO officials want to prevent the Russian-built defense system from accumulating information about Lockheed Martin F-35 fighter jets
- Turkey’s plans to buy the Russian air and missile defense system have raised tensions with Washington
US lawmaker Fine criticized by rights advocates, Democrats after anti-Muslim remarks
- Fine’s past comments include calling for the mass expulsion of all Muslims from the US, labeling of Muslims as “terrorists” and the mocking of the starvation and killing of Palestinians in Gaza, among others
WASHINGTON: Rights advocates and multiple Democrats on Tuesday condemned anti-Muslim comments by Republican US Representative Randy Fine who said on Sunday that “the choice between dogs and Muslims is not a difficult one.”
Fine, whose comments against Muslims have often sparked outrage, has dismissed the criticism and since doubled down on his remarks on social media. The Council on American-Islamic Relations designated the Republican US lawmaker from Florida as an anti-Muslim extremist last year.
“If they force us to choose, the choice between dogs and Muslims is not a difficult one,” Fine said on X on Sunday in a post that had over 40 million views as of Tuesday afternoon.
Some high-profile Democrats including California Governor Gavin Newsom called for him to resign while House of Representatives Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries called Fine an “Islamophobic, disgusting and unrepentant bigot.”
Jeffries also called for Republicans — who hold a majority in both chambers of Congress — to hold Fine accountable.
“To ignore this is to accept and normalize it,” Democratic US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said. Fine’s past comments include calling for the mass expulsion of all Muslims from the US, labeling of Muslims as “terrorists” and the mocking of the starvation and killing of Palestinians in Gaza, among others. Rights advocates have noted a rise in Islamophobia in the US in recent years due to a range of factors including hard-line immigration policies and white-supremacist rhetoric, as well as the fallout of Israel’s war in Gaza on American society.
