US Approves Sales of 40 F-16s Turkey

By Logan Williams, Warrior Editorial Fellow

Just days ago, the Biden Administration approved a $23-billion deal to provide Türkiye with 40 new F-16 fighter jets, and to modernize Türkiye’s existing fleet of 79 F-16 airframes. Türkiye is a member of NATO, however, its relationship with the United States has soured, due to its increasingly close ties to Russia, Turkish President Erdoğan’s increasingly ethnoreligious, right-wing, populist nationalism, and due to Türkiye’s continued abuse of its Kurdish minority.

In a matter of hours after approving the sale of F-16 fighters to Türkiye, the United States approved another such deal, this time to sell 40 F-35 fighter jets (just under $10-billion worth) to Greece, Türkiye’s arch-nemisis. This deal also included a gift of the United States’ so-called Excess Defense Articles (EDA) – equipment deemed useless to the U.S. military – amounting to various aircraft components and 60 Bradley Fighting Vehicles.

This deal was likely highly-political. Greece was dissatisfied with the United States’ sale of F-16 fighters to Türkiye, for fear that these fighter jets would, in turn, be used to threaten Greek national interests. The United States’ approval of the F-35 sale, long-awaited by the Greek government, was likely the Biden Administration’s best attempt to mollify an ally of ever-increasing importance.

On the other hand, the United States’ sale of the cutting-edge, fifth-generation F-35 fighters to Greece, will likely incense Erdoğan and the Turkish government, as Türkiye was expelled from the F-35 program in 2019. Türkiye’s expulsion came as a consequence of its decision to purchase weaponry from Russia, notably, the S-400 air defense system, in direct contravention of NATO policy, and in an egregious abdication of Türkiye’s duties to the alliance. Türkiye’s ability to complete a modernization of its armed forces is greatly hindered by its estrangement from the NATO alliance.

In fact, the United States had long delayed the sale of the approved F-16 legacy fighter jets, due to distrust of its Turkish partner; however, Türkiye successfully tied the completion of the F-16 sale to Sweden’s successful accession as a member of the NATO alliance, and upon the Turkish Parliament’s ratification of a measure acquiescing to Sweden’s NATO membership, as well as Washington’s receipt of the Turkish instruments of this ratification, the Biden Administration reluctantly handed over the keys – so to speak – to the legacy F-16 aircraft.

The United States’ sale of the F-35 aircraft to Greece dramatically alters the balance of power in the Mediterranean, although, this alteration isn’t without precedent — this balance has been steadily leaning toward Greece in recent years. The United States, which typically has a policy of maintaining deference to a regional power balance when making policy decisions, is likely to become even more comfortable with interfering with that balance, the longer Türkiye continues to choose to be an antagonist.