ISTANBUL, August 15. /TASS/. Turkey will use, not sell, the S-400 air defense systems it purchased from Russia until it builds up its own domestic air defense system, the Turkiye newspaper reported.
Forbes magazine reported earlier that Turkey, which is currently building the Steel Dome air defense system, may sell the S-400s it is holding to third countries, particularly India or Pakistan, after the system is activated. This would allow it to again work with the US to build next-generation F-35 fighter jets. Ankara lost out on this opportunity after signing a contract with Russia for the delivery of a regimental set of S-400s. Washington has repeatedly said that cooperation between the two countries along these lines will be put on ice until Turkey gets rid of its Russian systems.
According to Turan Oguz, a prominent Turkish defense and security expert, Istanbul does not yet have air defense systems that would protect its airspace from medium-range ballistic missiles, which the Russian S-400s allow. "The S-400 SAMs have not been integrated into NATO systems, but Turkey has connected Russian SAMs to its own radar network and receives the necessary support from them. The system operates autonomously. In terms of military necessity, you will continue to use what you have available until you can build the same thing. Domestically produced defense systems do not have a ballistic missile defense network, and the S-400 protects Turkish airspace from ballistic missiles within a 400 km range. The Siper SAM, which will come into Turkish service this year, will only provide protection within 100 kilometers," Oguz told the newspaper.
Earlier in his interview with the Hurriyet newspaper, he did not rule out that the S-400 could be integrated into Turkey's Steel Dome air defense system.
In 2017, Turkey purchased four divisions of S-400 air defense systems from Russia at a cost of $2.5 billion. In October 2019, Rosoboronexport reported that the contract for the delivery of the systems had been fulfilled.