The Pentagon announced that it would allow Turkish companies to continue production of some components of the F-35 until the end of 2022, which surprised many observers in the American capital, despite their understanding of the motives of this complex decision.
Pentagon spokeswoman Jessica Maxwell confirmed that Turkish companies will continue between now and the end of the year 2022 the production of 139 parts of this fighter.
The Pentagon has previously announced that these companies will stop participating in the production of "F-35" by the end of this year, due to Ankara's purchase of the S-400 missile defense systems from Russia, which prompted Washington to suspend Turkey's participation in this construction project. The fighter.
Turkey is one of the main countries involved in the most advanced fighter jet manufacturing project in the US arsenal.
David de Roche, a professor at the National Defense University of the Pentagon, believes that the real problem with the possession of the S-400 and the manufacture or possession of the F-35 is mainly due to the nature of the information that the S-400 radars will collect, enabling it to The F-35 is tracked regularly while flying.
The American academic said - in an exclusive interview with Al Jazeera Net - that his country does not consider that Turkey has left the system of strategic alliance with the United States.
Two possibilities behind the American retreat And
Howard Eisenstadt, an expert on Turkish affairs in the project of democracy in the Middle East, considered that the subject of the American retreat is considered "a big mystery that is not clear."
He confirmed - in an interview with Al-Jazeera Net - that he is not aware of what is going on between the two parties behind closed doors, but he pointed out that there are two possibilities behind Washington's position, the first related to the size of Turkish President Recep Erdogan's great influence over his American counterpart Donald Trump, which is exploited by (Erdogan) Smartly, that was evident in the case of the release of pastor Andrew Princon in October 2018.
And the Turkish expert continues that this volume of influence was also evident when the Trump administration stood in the way of any sanctions against Turkey despite the strong support for the sanctions inside the Congress and even within the Pentagon.
Eisenstadt pointed out that the second possibility relates to financial and economic accounts and what is related to the production cycle, "It may have been reached between the two parties to agree to accept the continued participation of Turkey in the production of the plane" F-35 ″ until new suppliers and manufacturers are found. "
De Roche, the American academic, went back to saying that the United States can stop the participation of all Turkish parts suppliers immediately, but "this will be very costly for the United States as this allows new suppliers to impose higher prices because of the need to accelerate production lines, and the cancellation of previous agreements will lead to To lawsuits that may be costly and pointless. "
An important strategic partner,
and Turkey plays a vital role in the strategy of the United States, whether in the Middle East or Central Asia. The coordination of the two sides is clearly evident in the Syrian and Libyan arena, where the two sides have combined the goal of stopping and facing the Russian military expansion.
The United States does not see Turkey as outside its system of strategic alliances, says de Roche, "But the problem is that Erdogan takes Turkey away from the system of Western values, and there is still a large stock of goodwill toward the Turks in Washington, even after Erdogan apparently made His best to drain it. "
De Roche believes that the two countries do not wish to personalize their old strategic relations, and said that taking Turkey out of the project entirely would have been followed by financially damaging to the participating industrial companies, and this may unnecessarily exacerbate the damage and make the inevitable and complete reconciliation at a later stage more difficult.
The message has been received
and it is not known exactly what happened to Turkey’s partnership in the process of building the F-35 and owning it, especially with spending more than 900 million dollars already in the framework of the project.
Reports indicate that Turkey has not decided its decision regarding the operation of the S-400 system yet, and it is also reluctant to receive the second and last batch of the Russian missile system, which indicates Washington's continued pressure on Ankara.
De Roche mentioned to Al-Jazeera Net that the American message has clearly reached Turkey, so it will not be easy to choose suppliers who work for short periods or for a single deal, and suppliers of long contracts will be preferred, which will harm Turkish manufacturers.
However, he pointed out that sanctions and abstinence harm Turkey, and this was not unnecessary. And there is a drafting bill in Congress trying to find a way out through a language through which to lay the foundations for a new reconciliation between the two parties.
For his part, the expert in Turkish affairs Eisenstadt pointed out that Ankara was a full partner in the production of the F-35 plane, and the decision to remove it from the joint production program of the plane is a costly operation for the American side.