Washington gives green light to deliver F16s to Turkey. Turkey had been asking for these planes for months.
Decision follows Turkey's ratification of Sweden's membership in NATO earlier this week. Turkey's interest in these American fighters – and in 80 modernization kits for the more than 200 F-16s it already has – predates Sweden's candidacy for NATO. It is linked to Turkey's exclusion from the F-35 fighter jet program due to its purchase of an air defense system from Russia in 2019.