US wants to push ahead with sale of fourth-generation F-16 Fighting Falcon fighters to Turkey

The United States does not intend to give up selling F-16 fighter jets to the Turkish air force. This was stated by John Kirby, Strategic Communications Coordinator at the National Security Council.

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According to Kirby, Joe Biden's position has not changed. The U.S. wants to move forward on the issue. He added that journalists should contact the office of Senator Bob Menendez or "the people on Capitol Hill" for more information.

And while the US cannot definitively approve or ban the potential sale of the aircraft, Turkey has been able to upgrade its first F-16 fighter to Block 70/72 in-house. The ÖZGÜR project improved the Block 30 aircraft.

The upgrade involves the installation of an Aselsan active phased array radar, a new digital cockpit and the Turkish equivalent of the Link 16 communications system. The F-16 can carry 20 Turkish missiles after the upgrade, including Merlin and Peregrin, which are designed to replace the AIM-120 AMRAAM.

In addition to Block 30, Turkey plans to upgrade Block 40 and Block 50 aircraft. In total, more than 200 fourth-generation F-16 Fighting Falcon fighters are to be upgraded.

Source: Daily Sabah