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WASHINGTON (REUTERS) - Three U.S. senators introduced a measure on Thursday aimed at blocking the transfer of Lockheed Martin's F-35 Joint Strike Fighter to Turkey, a NATO ally and one of nine partner nations involved in producing the high-tech, radar-evading aircraft. The bill, by Republicans James Lankford and Thom Tillis, and Democrat Jeanne Shaheen, comes at a time of deteriorating relations between the United States and Turkey, which supported the fight against Islamic State but has become increasingly worried about U.S. backing for Kurdish fighters in north Syria. snip Turkey plans to buy more than 100 of the F-35 aircraft....

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. Senate committee passed its version of a $716 billion defense policy bill on Thursday, including a measure to prevent Turkey from purchasing Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter jets.The amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, from Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen and Republican Senator Thom Tillis, would remove Turkey from the F-35 program over its detention of U.S. citizen Andrew Brunson, Shaheen’s office said. Brunson, a Christian pastor who could be jailed for up to 35 years, denied terrorism and spying charges in a Turkish court this month. He has been in pre-trial...

A U.S. Senate committee passed a $716 billion defense policy bill on Thursday, including a measure to prevent Turkey from purchasing Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter jets.The amendment to the National Defense Authorisation Act, from Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen and Republican Senator Thom Tillis, would remove Turkey from the F-35 program over its detention of U.S. citizen Andrew Brunson, Shaheen’s office said.Brunson, a Christian pastor who may be jailed for up to 35 years, has denied terrorism and spying charges in a Turkish court this month. He has been in pre-trial detention since 2016.It also faults NATO ally Turkey...

The past few days have revealed yet more evidence of the failure of one of Vladimir Putin’s world-beating whiz-bangs – the S-400 Triumf antiaircraft system. The S-400 is a supposedly state-of-the-art SAM system capable of knocking down either aircraft or missiles from treetop level to high altitude. It’s a multilayered system featuring four distinct missile types with a maximum range of nearly 250 miles, which means that it dominates airspace of the eastern Mediterranean littoral. It is considered to be best in its class, the missile system to beat. Some observers have gone so far to assert that the...

Russian air defenses may appear formidable as part of Moscow’s increasingly sophisticated anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) capability, but areas protected by these systems are far from impenetrable bubbles or 'Iron Domes’ as some analysts have called them. While it is true that a layered and integrated air defense may effectively render large swaths of airspace too costly—in terms of men and materiel—to attack using conventional fourth generation warplanes such as the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet or Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon, these systems have an Achilles’ Heel. Russian air defenses will still struggle to effectively engage fifth-generation stealth aircraft such as...

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Ties between Russia and Turkey are growing closer than ever, as Russia runs into widespread diplomatic fallout from the poisoned spy scandal and Turkey's relations with its Western allies worsens over human rights issues and its military operations against Kurdish militia in Syria. Russian President Vladimir Putin heads back to Turkey on Tuesday, joining Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at a symbolic ground-breaking ceremony for a Russian-made nuclear power plant being built on Turkey's Mediterranean coast at Akkuyu. On Wednesday, Putin, Erdogan and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani are expected to hold a summit in the Turkish...

Turkey will face sanctions over its deal to buy the Russian S-400 air defence system, according to Turkish daily Evrensel. The report comes as U.S. Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Tina Kaidanow, who heads the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs at the State Department, was in Ankara to attend the 5th gathering of Turkey - U.S. Defence Trade Dialogue, following a 2-year hiatus Top of the agenda was an offer to sell Turkey the Patriot missile system as an alternative to the S-400. Previous negotiations over Patriots have stalled over issues such as the price and technology transfer.Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım said...

Fighter pilots aren't cheap. The U.S. Air Force estimates that training a new pilot to fly a plane like the F-35 costs $11 million. And that doesn't count the priceless experience of a veteran pilot who has been flying for years. That's why the U.S. Air Force is willing to offer half-million-dollar bonuses to retain experienced fighter pilots. So a nation that throws its fighter pilots in jail is not just wasting money, but also an extremely valuable resource. Yet in the name of politics, Turkey's government has purged its air force so badly that it can barely fly its...

After experiencing a literal false start to the first ever trip by a ruling Saudi Arabian monarch to Moscow, the country’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud has gone to have what his country has called “historic momentum” in expanding relations with the Kremlin, including reports of a purchase of S-400 surface-to-air missiles and other arms deals. As with developments in Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, this could indicate a political shift by the Saudi regime away from its historical ally the United States or an attempt to exert political pressure on officials in Washington. Salman and his entourage...

Turkey is inching closer to buying Russian-made S400 missiles, despite a recent flurry of entreaties from the US for it to remain reliant on its Nato ally for air defence, according to two officials familiar with the matter told Financial Times. Turkey and Russia have agreed a price of as much as $3bn for four missile battery systems and a number of missiles, a senior Turkish official told the FT. Bloomberg earlier reported the price as $2.5bn, which included a requirement that two of the batteries be manufactured or assembled in Turkey as part of a “technology transfer” agreement. A...

Russia is heavily invested in and has deployed its’ most capable air defense systems in Syria; Su-35s variants and Surface to air, S-400 Triumf. to Latakia, Northwester Syria, on the Med. Russia implied that it could target, track, escort or destroy, coalition aircraft flying west of the Euphrates. Kremlin has compelling reasons to avoid doing so at all costs. Tit-for-tat escalation would follow, and the Shayrat example shows how TLAMs and other standoff weapons would quickly swamp S-400 and point defenses at Latakia. Likewise Russia’s Su-35s and some derivatives are nimble, but not combat prime and would be very unlikely...

Russia’s S-400 long-range air defense missile system is most likely to be selected for Turkey’s long-range anti-missile shield, Turkish Defense Minister Fikri Işık has said. “Russia’s S-400 missile system seems to be the most possible in discussions. Some progress was obtained in the talks, but we are not at the stage of a signature yet,” Işık said Feb. 22 in a televised interview. “There is a schedule in negotiations,” he said, abstaining from giving further details.

The S-400 is the most dangerous operationally deployed modern long-range SAM in the world. Its maximum effective range is up to 400km (215 nautical miles). The system reportedly can track 100 airborne targets and engage six of them simultaneously. The S-400 reportedly has the capability to counter low-observable aircraft and precision-guided munitions, and is also reportedly extremely mobile.

World | Wed Nov 25, 2015 3:57am EST Related: WORLD Russia to send S-400 air defense system to Syria after jet shot down: agencies MOSCOW Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Wednesday Russia would send its advanced S-400 air defense system to its air base in Syria's Latakia province a day after Turkey shot down one of its jets, Russian news agencies quoted him as saying.

Moscow places S-400 'Growlers' in Syria's Latakia base, in an escalation that places Ben-Gurion Airport within range. Russia has revealed in photographs that it has deployed a highly advanced anti-missile system in western Syria, that is capable of downing planes taking off in Tel Aviv. The S-400 anti-missile system, known to NATO as the SA-21 "Growler," was shown to be stationed in the Latakia Airbase on the Syrian coast of the Mediterranean Sea in photographs released by the Russian military, reports the Daily Mail on Thursday. In the past there have been Arab media reports of Israeli airstrikes in Latakia...

Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar left for Moscow on 30 October for a three-day visit before he leaves for ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting (ADMM-Plus) in Malaysia. The takeaway of this trip is however the fact that all measures are in place for India to acquire world's most advanced anti-ballistic missile system — the S-400. Previously known as S-300PMU-3, S-400 is a new generation anti-aircraft weapon system developed by Russia's Almaz Central Design Bureau as an upgrade of the S-300 family. It is currently in service with the Russian Armed Forces. The S-400 is designed to protect nuclear reactors, population centres...

NEW DELHI: In what could be a game-changing arms acquisition, India is planning to acquire the new-generation Russian S-400 Triumf air defence missile systems that can destroy incoming hostile aircraft, stealth fighters, missiles and drones at ranges of up to 400-km. Sources say the defence acquisitions council (DAC), chaired by Manohar Parrikar, will "soon" take up the proposal moved by the IAF to purchase around a dozen S-400 long-range systems from Russia. "The project is at an initial stage at present. But it will be a government-to-government contract when it is finalized, with the S-400 systems being inducted over several...

China has signed a contract with the Russian state-run arms exporter Rosoboronexport for the purchase of the S-400 air defense systems, the company's chief executive Anatoly Isaikin said in an interview with the Russian daily Kommersant. "I will not disclose the details of the contract, but yes, China has indeed become the first buyer of this sophisticated Russian air defense system. It underlines once again the strategic level of our relations," Isaikin said, when asked whether it was true that Beijing signed a contract for the purchase of four S-400 divisions in September 2014. Isaykin also said that "many countries"...

The first-ever contract for exports of the S-400 Triumf air defense missile system has been signed. "A contract between Rosoboronexport and the Chinese Defense Ministry was signed at the beginning of this fall for the delivery of at least six battalions of S-400 air defense missile systems worth of more than $3 billion," Vedomosti reported on Wednesday. Negotiations on the delivery of S-400 systems to China had been in progress for several years and the Russian Defense Ministry said in 2011 that exports might begin no earlier than 2016 because the Russian Armed Forces would have to be provided for...

The deal between Beijing and Moscow can dramatically alter the balance of power in South Asia Russia's reported plan to sell advanced S-400 anti-aircraft missile system to China may rile wary neighbours, especially India, as Moscow and Beijing moved closer in the backdrop of deepening Ukrainian crisis, according to a media report. A recent comment by Kremlin's chief of staff, Sergei Ivanov, "the chances that China may be the first foreign buyer of S-400s are high," cited by official Voice of Russia, has sparked off speculation that the two countries have moved closer to clinch the deal that was dragged...