Turkey is in discussions with the United States about rejoining the F-35 fighter jet program, the U.S. ambassador to Turkey said Wednesday, marking the most significant progress on the issue since Washington removed Ankara from the program in 2019.
“The positive relationship between President Trump and President Erdogan has created a new atmosphere of cooperation, which has led to the most fruitful conversations we have had on this topic in nearly a decade,” U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack wrote on social media.
The United States expelled Turkey from the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program in July 2019 after Ankara accepted delivery of Russia’s S-400 air defense system. Washington imposed sanctions on its NATO ally in 2020 under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act.
U.S. officials said the S-400 system posed a security risk because it could enable Russian engineers to gather intelligence on the F-35’s advanced stealth capabilities. The Pentagon said removing Turkey from the supply chain cost between $500 million and $600 million in non-recurring engineering costs. Turkey had produced more than 900 parts for the aircraft.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey discussed rejoining the program with President Donald Trump at a NATO summit in June. “We discussed the issue in our meeting with Mr. Trump, talks at a technical level have started,” Erdogan told reporters.
Barrack said the United States hopes discussions will lead to a breakthrough in the coming months.
U.S. law presents an obstacle to Turkey’s return. Section 1245 of the FY 2020 National Defense Authorization Act requires the Secretaries of Defense and State to certify 90 days before transferring any F-35 aircraft to Turkey that Ankara has removed all S-400 equipment and personnel, pledged never to reacquire the system, and not accepted other Russian systems that could compromise the jet.
The State Department said in August 2025 it remained opposed to Turkey rejoining the F-35 program.
Turkey has repeatedly said its removal was unjust and demanded either reinstatement or reimbursement for its $1.4 billion investment in the program.
