Pentagon chief cautions Turkey on defense system

Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan said he’s working to persuade Turkey to drop plans to buy a Russian missile-defense system, saying that would imperil prospects to sell the NATO ally the next-generation F-35 jet it’s helping to build.

Shanahan has spoken with his Turkish counterpart, Hulusi Akar, five times since becoming acting defense secretary on Jan. 1, he said in an interview Thursday in his Pentagon office. While some of those talks have centered on Syria policy as President Donald Trump seeks a “significant” drawdown of U.S. forces there, Shanahan said the S-400 missile-defense system has also been a key topic.

“My position is that the S-400 and F-35 are incompatible — meaning that they don’t go together,” Shanahan said. “We want to find a solution that makes the F-35, for a strategic partner, a critical asset in their military,” he said of Turkey.

Asked what action the U.S. will take if Turkey — as its officials have repeatedly said — buys the sophisticated air defense system, Shanahan said “we’ll cross that bridge when we get there, but we are talking about making sure they have” U.S.-made Patriot air defenses. “That’s been the discussion I’ve been having.”

Turkey has rejected a U.S. proposal to deliver one Patriot missile-defense system by the end of 2019, which was conditional on Ankara abandoning the deal with Russia, two senior Turkish officials familiar with the talks said Friday. The proposal didn’t include a loan agreement nor a technology sharing pact, a key Turkish demand, they said.

Pressed as to whether he’s seeing progress with Turkey on the issue, Shanahan said, “They’re a strategic partner and I think at the end of the day they’ll remain a strategic partner.”

Turkey is a crucial participant in the U.S.-led program to build the F-35, the U.S.’s costliest weapons system. Ten Turkish companies are set to produce about $12 billion in parts for the fighter jet, including key components such as the center fuselage and some landing gear.

Turkey’s move to buy the S-400 reflects a broader political shift as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan finds himself increasingly at odds with the U.S. While Trump initially praised Erdogan after taking office in 2017, he’s raised tariffs on the country, feuded over a detained American pastor who was later released and declined to extradite a Turkish cleric who Erdogan accuses of being behind a failed coup in 2016.

The Russian S-400 was designed to shoot down U.S. and allied aircraft at greater ranges and altitudes than older systems. American officials are concerned that sensitive F-35 technology designed to evade such a system could be compromised and used to improve Russia’s air defense system if Turkey ends up with both systems.

Despite the tensions, Shanahan emphasized that Turkey remains a valuable ally, particularly as the U.S. seeks to carry out Trump’s plan to reduce the approximately 2,000 troops it has in Syria.