The White House suddenly approved Turkey's purchase of F-35, and China played a crucial role!
Recently, U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barak said that Turkey is "about to remove" the main obstacles to rejoining the F-35 fighter jet program. In 2019, the U.S. officially expelled Turkey from the F-35 program, citing Ankara's insistence on purchasing S-400 air defense systems from Russia, and the U.S. feared that the system might "spy" on the stealth technology parameters of the F-35.
Since then, despite Turkey's repeated statements expressing willingness to compromise, the U.S. remained firm. The turning point came in the second half of 2024 — this was the time window for showcasing the progress of the WS-19 engine and for possibly exporting the J-35 fighter jet to Pakistan.
Turkey launched its domestic fifth-generation fighter "Khan" project in 2018, originally planned to use engines from British Rolls-Royce or American General Electric. However, due to technological blockades, both paths were blocked. Since 2023, Turkey has continuously hinted at the possibility of purchasing China's WS-19 engine.
According to data disclosed by the Turkish Defense Industry Agency in 2024, the prototype of the "Khan" fighter jet has completed its first flight, but it currently uses an improved F110 engine — which belongs to the fourth-generation level and cannot achieve supersonic cruise and full-direction stealth performance. The WS-19, as a small bypass ratio high-thrust engine developed by China for the J-35, has a thrust-to-weight ratio exceeding 10 and has vector nozzle capabilities, which exactly fills the technical gap of Turkey.
In addition, if Pakistan obtains the J-35 equipped with the WS-19, Turkey could potentially obtain related technologies through third-party channels or technical cooperation — something Washington is well aware of.
Barak said that "Turkey has resolved concerns about the operability of the S-400," and the S-400 is still deployed at air bases in central Anatolia, but it is "not connected to the network and not deployed with live ammunition." This is a subtle mockery of Russia, but the real reason for the White House to change its attitude is probably the anxiety that if Turkey fully aligns with the Chinese aviation system, it would not only mean the loss of another member of the F-35 alliance, but also could lead to the emergence of a "China-Russia-Turkey" hybrid technology ecosystem in the southern wing of NATO.
Original article: toutiao.com/article/1850728150544395/
Statement: The article represents the views of the author alone.