Turkey says talks with US on local production of new F-16 ongoing

ANKARA — Turkey is in talks with the United States for the co-production of new F-16 fighter jets it is set to purchase from the US government, the Turkish Defense Ministry said on Thursday.  

Turkey’s negotiations with the United States to “carry out the modernization process and production of the new aircraft to be supplied in our country are continuing,” a high-level Turkish Defense Ministry official told reporters on Thursday. 

The US Congress cleared the sale of 40 new Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70s and nearly 80 modernization kits for its existing fleet last week.

“We expect the draft offer and acceptance letters to be submitted to Turkey by the end of February,” the Defense Ministry official added.