Turkey’s Air Force has selected the U.S.-led F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), now called the Lightning II, over Europe’s Eurofighter Typhoon for the NATO nation’s 15-year, $10 billion program to buy about 100 new-generation fighter aircraft, Turkish procurement and military officials said.

Although the Air Force, as the user, is not the sole authority for a final decision, its position is dominant and backed by the powerful General Staff, analysts said.

“Although this decision is not official yet, we can say that Turkey’s JSF move is almost final, after the Air Force has clarified its position,” said one defense analyst in Ankara.
In the past few months, the selection process had been narrowed down to a choice between buying all JSFs and a mixed buy of the JSF and the Typhoon.

But the Air Force, whose fighter fleet is exclusively of U.S. design and which follows a strong American tradition, has opted for an all-JSF solution, the officials said.

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