Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan plans to purchase hundreds of Boeing Co. aircraft and Lockheed Martin Corp. fighter jets, while insisting on the production of some components in Turkey, Bloomberg reports.
Erdogan is seeking to offset the cost of the American aircraft with local production contracts worth more than $10 billion, Bloomberg reports.
The deals are subject to approval by President Donald Trump, who will host Erdogan at the White House on Thursday, September 25.
This meeting is considered a key moment in Ankara’s efforts to repair relations strained by the purchase of the Russian missile defense system and other disputes.
Turkey’s purchase of Russian S-400s has led to a standoff with Washington, prompting Washington to impose sanctions, known as CAATSA, targeting the country’s defense industry and excluding it from the F-35 development program.
Ankara has not abandoned the S-400, as Washington demanded, but is pinning high hopes on Trump agreeing to amend CAATSA to allow Turkey to purchase 40 Lockheed F-35A aircraft.
This could also force the US to lift the ban on sales to 10 Turkish companies that had hoped to secure approximately $12 billion in F-35 components, including the center fuselage section produced by Turkish Aerospace Industries, and boost the country’s growing defense industry.
They noted that some Turkish electronics companies could continue to supply critical software solutions, while others could help circumvent stricter European Union regulations limiting the use of certain chemicals in the production of aircraft components.
As Bloomberg previously reported, Erdogan also hopes to complete the purchase of 40 latest-generation F-16 Viper aircraft from Lockheed Martin Corp., as well as hundreds of bombs, missiles, and spare engines.