Turkey Purchases Russian Missile Defense System

Turkey Purchases Russian Missile Defense System

Defense

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The Turkish minister of defense, Hulusi Akar, recently states that Russia will supply Turkey with Russian-made S-400 missile defense systems, which will be installed in Turkey during the upcoming year. According to a report, the deal will take place as part of a security agreement signed between Ankara and Moscow last year.  

In his statement, Akar explained that Turkish Army teams will soon fly to Russia in order to undergo training on the construction of the system.

“The chosen team will travel for the purpose of training in the beginning of 2019, in which they will gain all of the required knowledge. They will then return to Turkey and start setting up,” he said. “The defense system will be installed in October of 2019, and its operation will take place by the end of next year.” Additionally, he clarified that Turkey will purchase additional fighter jets from the U.S., which will be used in Turkish Air Force Operations this coming March.

The report comes in after Russia supplied the S-300 system to Syria last month.

“In 2013 we agreed to stop the transfer of the system to Syria due to Israeli request. Now the situation has changed, and not by our own doing,” explained Russian defense minister Sergey Shoygu. He added that Russia will activate electromagnetic means of signal disruption in order to prevent satellite communications on the Syrian beach, as reported in srugim.co.il.

In April, it was reported that S-400 systems will be supplied to Turkey earlier than the original deadline, which was early 2020. The new deadline is July, 2019.

Turkey and Russia conducted negotiations last year, which led to a deal of $2.5 billion, reached by the end of last year. Turkey’s purchase of Russian missile defense systems resulted in tensions between Turkey and other NATO members, mainly due to NATO weapons being incompatible with the S-400.  

Turkey is not the only country who purchased the S-400 system from Russia. By the end of 2014, China signed a deal with Rosoboronexport company in order to update its S-300 system to the S-400, as reported in businessinsider.com.