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Russian S-400 systems will be under Turkey’s total control, pledges Turkish top diplomat

Mevlut Cavusoglu recalled that Ankara had approached Washington with an initiative to set up a joint working group to look at ways of settling the dispute over plans to buy Russian S-400s

ANKARA, Mat 16. /TASS/. The S-400 missile systems Turkey is buying from Russia will be controlled by Ankara, Turkey’s Hurriyet daily said on Thursday quoting Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.

"Some say that S-400 systems will pose a threat for F-35 fighter jets," he reported said during a visit to Latvia. "These systems will under our control. They will be integrated into the NATO system. They will be under our total control."

He also recalled that Ankara had approached Washington with an initiative to set up a joint working group to look at ways of settling the dispute over Turkey’s plans to buy Russian S-400 systems.

Meanwhile, a group of US congressmen, both Democrats and Republicans, have submitted to a number of the House of Representatives’ committees a resolution calling for sanctions against Turkey under the "Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act" (CAATSA) and Turkey’s exclusion from the F-35 program if it finally buys Russia S-400 systems. Resolutions passed by the US Congress houses are non-regulatory and non-legally binding.

The United States has been seeking to break down the deal. It has repeatedly warned Turkey that in case it buys the Russian missile systems it would not get F-35 fighter jets.

By now, Turkey has ordered 30 out of possible 100 US F-35 fighters, multi-role stealth fighter jets capable of carrying nuclear weapons. Along with the United States, eight countries, namely Australia, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Italy, Canada, the Netherlands, Norway and Turkey, are taking part in the project. More to it, Israel and Japan buy such jets.

Russia’s S-400 Triumf (NATO reporting name: SA-21 Growler) is the latest long-range antiaircraft missile system that went into service in 2007. It is designed to destroy aircraft, cruise and ballistic missiles, including medium-range missiles, and surface targets. The system can hit aerodynamic targets at a range of up to 400 kilometers (249 miles) and tactical ballistic targets flying at a speed of 4.8 km/s (3 mi/s) at a distance of up to 60 kilometers (37 miles). Such targets include cruise missiles, tactical and strategic aircraft and ballistic missile warheads.

The system’s radars detect aerial targets at a distance of up to 600 kilometers (373 miles). The system’s 48N6E3 surface-to-air missiles can hit aerodynamic targets at altitudes of 10,000-27,000 meters and ballistic threats at altitudes of 2,000-25,000 meters.