OLD JOE SEALS F-35 DEAL WITH TURKEY

"I need to interrupt our regularly scheduled program, here, to bring you a news flash . . .

Turkey has decided to purchase 100 new F-35 JSF aircraft from Lockheed Martin, from F-16.net:

Turkey's Air Force has selected the F-35 Lightning II, over Europe's Eurofighter Typhoon for the NATO nation's 15-year, $10 billion program to buy about 100 new-generation fighter aircraft, Turkish procurement and military officials said.

The decision is not final yet as the Air Force is not the sole authority for a final decision. However, since its position is dominant and backed by the powerful General Staff, we can consider this move as a fact.

In the past few months, the selection process had been narrowed down to a choice between buying all F-35s and a mixed buy of the F-35s and Typhoons.

But the Air Force, whose fighter fleet is exclusively of U.S. design and which follows a strong American tradition, has apparently opted for an all-F-35 Lightning II solution now.

Turkish Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul and procurement chief Murad Bayar are due to meet with U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Gordon England, deputy defense secretary, and other top U.S. defense officials in Washington Oct. 30. They will then visit the Lockheed Martin F-35 plant in Fort Worth, Texas, the officials said.

The Turkish team and their U.S. counterparts are expected to discuss final details for the planned deal.

A formal announcement on the fighter selection is expected in December.

The new-generation fighter program, Turkey's largest defense procurement project, is designed to replace the Air Force's aging F-16 and F-4E aircraft starting beginning in the mid-2010s.

WOW! Old Joe Ralston really swung that deal when he was in Ankara last week. Sounds to me like he was doing more to counter the Eurofighter than the big, bad PKK. Who says that conflict-of-interest doesn't work?"
Rasti

Wow, this is great news! looks like it will insure the production line for the F-35 JSF and guarantee we get ours too.

I know you don't see this as being very good for the Kurds, but I suggest you find other issues that we can all agree on to help the people of Kurdistan, because this one is a sure looser