Washington is preparing to move ahead with a major arms sale to Turkey, despite sharp objections from US lawmakers. The package would sell dozens of advanced jet engines made by General Electric for more than $700 million, and the White House says it wants to strengthen ties with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ahead of next month’s NATO summit in Turkey.
The engines are intended to revive Turkey’s flagship defense project, the KAAN, its first domestically developed fighter jet. The program began in 2016 and is meant to reduce Ankara’s dependence on foreign weapons, but it has faced serious technological problems, especially over the need for advanced engines. US officials and analysts still warn that Turkey’s Russian-made S-400 air defense system remains a security threat to NATO and that the engine sale does not resolve the deeper dispute over stealth fighters and military trust.
The deal has triggered anger among Democrats on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, who say the administration is bypassing Congress and want detailed answers about the regional security consequences and the impact on US relations with other allies. Trump administration officials argue that diplomacy with Erdogan has produced the most productive talks in a decade. A formal notification to Congress is expected soon, and the administration is likely to press ahead even if lawmakers object.
The article also places the move in the broader context of Turkey’s growing military capabilities, including recent reports of a Turkish-Italian test showing a fighter pilot controlling a swarm of autonomous drones, and a new round of large-scale Turkish-Qatari military drills in Doha focused on urban warfare and riot control.
