As it is known, there is a serious warplane crisis between the United States and Turkey. Turkey’s request to purchase the F-35 5th generation fighter jet was not accepted by the USA due to the S-400s purchased from Russia. Another relevant issue was the F-16 Block 70 modernization kits. A new statement made by the Ministry of National Defense reported the current status of the situation. Here are the details…
The latest situation regarding F-16 Block 70 modernization has become clear: Statement from the Ministry of National Defense!
Within the scope of the F-16 Block 70 project, the F-16 Block 30 and F-16 Block 50 type warplanes in the Turkish Air Force inventory would be upgraded to the F-16 Block 70 level. No progress could be made in the Block 70 project, which is a kind of fleet renewal movement from scratch, due to the problems between Turkey and the United States.
In particular, the F-35 crisis caused the Block 70 modernization package project to be paused. Regarding the issue, the domestic and national modernization package project has started by TAI within the scope of the “FREE” project. With the new modernization package named F-16 Block ÖZGÜR, F-16 Block 70 equivalent aircraft would be included in the Turkish Air Force fleet.
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The second project phase was signed for ÖZGÜR, which is superior to the Block 70 kit with its instrument approach/landing and Reconnaissance Pod (DB-110) features. In addition, the Ministry of National Defense, which wants to purchase Block 70 for the fleet, made a new statement on the subject. This statement is as follows: “We want this process to be concluded positively and quickly as soon as possible. “We state once again that this issue should not be subject to any conditions.”
In line with the statement, it is reported that technical studies between the USA and Türkiye have been completed. Stating that an attitude similar to the US’s stance on the F-35 issue should not be re-asserted, the Ministry of National Defense said that they hope that the issue will be concluded positively in the near future.