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Science & Technology
US could buy Turkey’s Russian-made S-400 under Senate proposal
2020-06-30
[Defense News] The U.S. would be able to buy Turkey’s Russian-made S-400 air defense system under legislation proposed in the Senate last week. The proposal is one powerful lawmaker’s attempt to alleviate the impasse between Washington and Ankara over the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

Senate Majority Whip John Thune, R-S.D., has proposed an amendment to the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act that would allow the purchase to be made using the U.S. Army’s missile procurement account. The move comes a year after the U.S. expelled NATO ally Turkey from the multinational F-35 program because it received the S-400 in a $2.5 billion deal.

However, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jim Risch, R-Idaho, has introduced an amendment that would take a tougher stance, mandating the Trump administration implement CAATSA sanctions on Turkey within 30 days of passage of the NDAA. Risch has been critical of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and accused him of bad faith in dealings with the U.S. over the S-400.

The U.S. routinely buys foreign technology and could both exploit the S-400′s technology and test U.S. tactics, said Jim Townsend, a former Pentagon official for European and NATO policy. If Turkey doesn’t go for the idea, he said, the two countries are still stuck.

“I think the US buying the S-400s from Turkey is a clever way of getting Erdogan out of the jam he put himself in,” Townsend said. “We just want to get the system out of Turkey ... and if it enables the Turks to take part in the F-35 then all the better.”
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Posted by:3dc

#5  While we could get some valuable intel, it isn't worth letting Erdogan "off the hook". Fuck him and his Ottoman wannabe Empire.

Besides, Israel already has some good real life data on them and I bet they would be happy to share for some more toys.
Posted by: DarthVader   2020-06-30 12:07  

#4  No Ret. Making the system's computer think that you're a cloud is most fun.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru   2020-06-30 10:04  

#3  Wouldn't a laser guided bomb aimed at the S-400 be cheaper? And more fun as well as delivering a not-so-subtle message?
Posted by: USN, Ret.   2020-06-30 09:58  

#2  /\ In our continuing effort to 'say something good about everyone,' to his credit, a very predictable Islamo tyrant.
Posted by: Besoeker   2020-06-30 06:30  

#1  “I think the US buying the S-400s from Turkey is a clever way of getting Erdogan out of the jam he put himself in,”

I think you can FOAD. He's an Islamo tyrant that stabs the US and EU and everyone else in the back.
Posted by: Frank G   2020-06-30 06:21  

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