ANKARA, December 21. /TASS/. Turkey will take necessary measures to use the S-400 air defense missile systems that Ankara is purchasing from Russia without harming the F-35 fifth generation fighters the country buys from the United States, a source in the Turkish Foreign Ministry told TASS on Friday.
"During out talks with the United States, we assured that the S-400 systems will be used separately from NATO’s systems, and in a manner that will help preserve sensitive information concerning the F-35 aircraft. We will take all necessary measures in that regard," the source said when asked to comment on Bloomberg’s report saying that Ankara was considering providing US technical experts with an opportunity to study the S-400 systems.
News about Russian-Turkish talks on the delivery of the S-400 systems first came in November 2016. In September 2017, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that Ankara had signed a contract with Moscow on purchasing the S-400 complexes and made an advance payment. Ankara will begin the deployment of the S-400 systems in October 2019, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said.
On Tuesday, the media said that the US administration had cleared Turkey to purchase the Patriot systems, worth a total of $3.5 bln. Meanwhile, Turkey’s purchase of the Patriot systems will in no way affect the S-400 deal between Moscow and Ankara, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Tuesday.
The S-400 Triumf (NATO reporting name: SA-21 Growler) is the most advanced long-range anti-aircraft missile system that went into service in 2007. It is designed to destroy aircraft, cruise and ballistic missiles, including medium-range ones, and can also be used against ground objectives. The S-400 complex can engage targets at a distance of 400 km and at an altitude of up to 30 km.