US Senate defeats bid to stop F-16 fighter jet sale to Turkey

Reuters ^ | Feb 29 | Patricia Zengerle

[RandFan]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Senate on Thursday soundly defeated an effort to stop the $23 billion sale of F-16 fighter jets and modernization kits to Turkey, which President Joe Biden's administration approved after Turkey approved Sweden's joining the NATO alliance.

The Senate voted 79 to 13 against a resolution of disapproval of the sale introduced by Republican Senator Rand Paul.

Before the vote, Paul criticized Turkey's government and said allowing the sale would embolden its "misbehavior." Backers of the sale said it was important for Washington to keep its word to a NATO ally.

The Biden administration formally informed Congress on Jan. 26 of its intention to proceed with the sale of 40 Lockheed Martin F-16s and nearly 80 modernization kits to Turkey, a day after Ankara fully completed ratification of the NATO membership of Sweden.

The sale had been held up for months over issues including Turkey's refusal to approve Sweden's accession to the military alliance. Turkey first asked to make the purchase in October 2021.

The U.S. Arms Export Control Act gives Congress the right to stop a major weapons sale by passing a resolution of disapproval in both the Senate and the House of Representatives. Although the law has been in effect for half a century, no such resolution has both passed Congress and survived a presidential veto.

[daniel1212]

Not a new jet for them: Turkey will get 40 new F-16s and upgrades to 79 of the jets in its existing fleet, - https://www.france24.com/en/americas/20240127-us-approves-sale-of-f-16-warplanes-to-turkey-after-ankara-ratified-sweden-s-nato-bid

The 79 modernization kits may be allowed to help the Russian to counter Ukraine.

[Gen.Blather]

“Why does Turkey want these so badly anyway?”

I think there’s some significant butt-hurt on the part of Erdogan. Turkey was the first country to sign on to finance the F-35 development. Congress, the military and probably Israel would have done anything to prevent the eventual sale, but it turns out Erdogan wanted to buy an S-400 and even the most ardent proponent of giving Turkey the F-35 realized that letting the Russian technicians run daily tests against the F-35 would shorten the plane’s utility. so, the sale was cancelled. He then tried to get F-16’s. But by this time all sorts of signals indicated arming what was ultimately going to be our adversary in the region had manifested. So, getting the F-16’s is a political feather in Erdogan’s hat. Also, I’m guessing there’s a bit of graft and corruption somewhere in the mix as there always is in anything Turkish. We’ll probably never know the whole story.