Tuesday, November 26, 2019

New S-400 Contract For Turkey?

OK, certainly looks like. Or, as they say, appetite comes during the meal. 
Turkey is to sign a new contract for S-400 missile-defense systems with Russia, according to Moscow, which would risk further souring ties with the US and could trigger threatened sanctions. Ankara received the first batch of Russia's surface-to-air missile systems systems in July, prompting the US to kick Turkey off its F-35 fighter jet programme. The Trump administration warned Ankara it could face sanctions, but said Ankara could be spared if it does not activate the S-400 system. But the Nato member yesterday came one step closer as it began testing a newly acquired Russian missile defence system against American-made fighter jets. Footage of the first trial run, which began on Monday and continued into Tuesday, showed the system’s radars rotating over an air base outside the capital. US-made F-16 fighter jets were used as mock targets during the exercise, which will likely irk Washington. Initial tests may just be to ensure that the radars are working properly or to see if they can adequately distinguish between friendly and enemy aircraft.
Some Turkish user already uploaded a video of S-400 running its radar systems, namely 40V6MR mast with acquisition 96L6 radar, and, what seems like a 91N6E--another acquisition and battle management radar. I cannot vouch for this video being genuine but to me it looks legit. 
So, Turks are already running, it seems, detection routine with F-16 and F-4 as targets. Turks will, already do, want more. Turks know what comes next, and it is S-500--they want it. The reason is simple: look at the map of Turkey and see how much Eastern Mediterranean she will be able to cover--pretty much all of it. Just in case. And it is not just for the reasons of Greece and gas fields, but for the reasons of Israel. Turkish path towards a leadership in Islamic world lies through the fate of Palestine. So, a lot of thing are riding on those systems for Turkey and, just a hunch, SU-35s will follow.    

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