The Trump administration plans to proceed with the sale of dozens of GE-manufactured jet engines to Turkey in a package worth more than $700 million, four sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. The engines will power Turkey's first indigenous fighter jet, KAAN, and the sale faces congressional opposition.
The Trump administration is advancing the sale of dozens of GE-manufactured F110 jet engines to Turkey, valued at over $700 million, four sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Wednesday. The package, which faces opposition in the U.S. Congress, would equip Turkey's domestically developed KAAN fighter jet — Ankara's flagship aviation project.
The move comes ahead of next week's NATO summit, and follows President Trump's recent reassurances to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, including a reported call in which Trump said he was attending the summit just for Erdogan (as The Zioneer reported on June 18). The administration has also signaled a broader willingness to deepen defense ties with Turkey despite Ankara's tensions with fellow NATO member Greece and its purchase of the Russian S-400 air defense system, which triggered U.S. sanctions in 2020.
The engine sale is understood to be distinct from any new F-35 transfer. Turkey was removed from the F-35 program in 2019 after receiving the S-400. The Biden administration had largely frozen further military deals with Turkey; Trump's reversal marks a significant policy shift.
Congressional sources cited by Reuters expressed concern that the sale would strengthen Turkey's independent military production without resolving Washington's core objections to Ankara's strategic alignment with Moscow.
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- Internal intake