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posted by janrinok on Wednesday March 06 2019, @05:39PM   Printer-friendly
from the muscle-flexing dept.

The United States warned Turkey against moving ahead with plans to buy a sophisticated Russian missile defence system that the Pentagon believes would threaten its advanced F-35 fighter aircraft.

The State Department made the remarks on a day when the head of US European Command spoke to politicians on Capitol Hill and said Turkey should reconsider its plan to buy the S-400 from Russia this year.

"We've clearly warned Turkey that its potential acquisition of the S-400 will result in a reassessment of Turkey's participation in the F-35 programme, and risk other potential future arms transfers to Turkey," said deputy spokesman Robert Palladino on Tuesday.

The US agreed to sell 100 of its latest fifth-generation F-35 fighters to Turkey and has so far delivered two of the aircraft. But Congress last year ordered a delay in future deliveries.

[...] The S-400 can track a large number of potential targets, including stealth targets such as the US F-35 fighter jet. Other advantages included its high mobility, meaning it can be set up, fired and moved within minutes.


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  • (Score: 3, Disagree) by NewNic on Wednesday March 06 2019, @09:15PM (3 children)

    by NewNic (6420) on Wednesday March 06 2019, @09:15PM (#810871) Journal

    What's going on is that some people in the USA are afraid that Russia will get information on how to identify and track the F35s, through the operation of the S-400 missile system. There will undoubtedly be Russian technicians helping with the deployment, operation and maintenance of the S-400 systems. Flying the F35s in the vicinity may allow those Russian technicians to see what the radar profile of the F35 is like.

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  • (Score: 2) by zocalo on Wednesday March 06 2019, @09:47PM (1 child)

    by zocalo (302) on Wednesday March 06 2019, @09:47PM (#810881)
    Sure, but the Russians could surely do that anyway just by positioning the radar system (which doesn't even need to be hooked up to the missile launcher) somewhere F35s are known to be operating and they have a reason to have a radar system within range. Plenty of places they could probably do that if they haven't done so already (e.g. the Israeli F35 strike on Syria), and they'd have even more options if the radar was mounted on a ship. Unless the US is planning on telling all its F35 customers they cannot use the F35 for monitoring Russian naval vessels - which would go down real well, I'm sure - it's just a matter of time. The only difference with Turkey would be that the situation could be much more controlled, and therefore give more meaningful results, but maybe that's enough?
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    • (Score: 2) by NewNic on Wednesday March 06 2019, @10:29PM

      by NewNic (6420) on Wednesday March 06 2019, @10:29PM (#810889) Journal

      The only difference with Turkey would be that the situation could be much more controlled, and therefore give more meaningful results, but maybe that's enough?

      I think you answered your own question.

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      lib·er·tar·i·an·ism ˌlibərˈterēənizəm/ noun: Magical thinking that useful idiots mistake for serious political theory
  • (Score: 2) by Bot on Thursday March 07 2019, @12:11AM

    by Bot (3902) on Thursday March 07 2019, @12:11AM (#810935) Journal

    >how to identify and track the F35s
      My AI says: follow the money.

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