U.s. Senate To Vote On Whether To Purchase Russia’s S-400 Missile Defense System From Turkey



The US Senate is to vote on legislation that would allow for the purchase of a Russian S-400 missile defense system from Turkey.

Senate Majority Whip John Thune, R-S.D., has proposed an amendment to the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would allow the purchase to be made using the U.S. Army’s missile procurement account.

This is an attempt to rectify the situation created by Ankara purchasing a S-400 missile defense system from Moscow, and subsequently being booted out of the F-35 joint strike fighter program as a form of punishment, among other things.

In an act that is entirely counter to this one, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jim Risch 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.
Under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), which was introduced in 2017, any country concluding major defense contracts with Russia must be heavily sanctioned.

According to Jim Townsend, a former Pentagon official for European and NATO policy, the US has a very common policy of buying foreign technology, and could potentially exploit the S-400’s technology, and also use it to tests its own tactics and aircraft against it.
“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.”

Currently, it is unclear which amendment the US Senate would vote, and even if either pass, they also need to pass the US House of Representatives and not be vetoed by the US President.

Trump has chosen not to sanction Turkey regarding the S-400 purchase.

The Senate Armed Services Committee’s draft of the authorization bill already contains language pertaining to Turkey and the F-35 program.

Turkey’s canceled receipt of 6 F-35A conventional-takeoff-and-landing models that were already built were instead provided to the US air force to accept, operate and modify.

The US has offered several benefits if Turkey drops the S-400, but so far, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has declined everything.

I have a bad feeling about US and it allies getting this system. It might be an attempt to get their hands on it, study it and find ways to counter it and render it impotent for countries genuinely using it for their own defense.
Exactly the same way India exposed the INS Chakra which they got on loan from Russia to US officials. That alone might have exposed some secrets of Akula class submarine to US.

Whyem15:
I have a bad feeling about US and it allies getting this system. It might be an attempt to get their hands on it, study it and find ways to counter it and render it impotent for countries genuinely using it for their own defense.
Exactly the same way India exposed the INS Chakra which they got on loan from Russia to US officials. That alone might have exposed some secrets of Akula class submarine to US.

Exactly. One of the reasons U.S is pushing for an indefinite arms embargo on Iran. They know if Iran gets the S-400 after the UN embargo has expired it will be a game changer. America knows there is little it can do to stop Russia and China from shipping arms to Iran after October hence the need for U.S to get the S-400 for study. Russia remains the best in rocket technology.

Loan or Lease?

Whyem15:
I have a bad feeling about US and it allies getting this system. It might be an attempt to get their hands on it, study it and find ways to counter it and render it impotent for countries genuinely using it for their own defense.
Exactly the same way India exposed the INS Chakra which they got on loan from Russia to US officials. That alone might have exposed some secrets of Akula class submarine to US.

Sauce?

rationalhuman:
Loan or Lease?

Lease

illitrate:
Sauce?

https://www.yahoo.com/news/us-could-buy-turkey-russia-191035140.html

Scully95

There are is O level and A level strategies in strategic intelligence management.
O level is to think that the US wants to buy the missile from Turkey to copy the tech or counter it.
A level is to know that they are making 'noise' about what should be secret in order to cover up that they already have the info they want on that missile and are trying to confuse everyone to protect the source OR they have decided not to sell F35 to Turkey and just looking for flimsy excuse to cancel. Turkey knows they cannot sell that missile.

Jimi24:
There are is O level and A level strategies in strategic intelligence management.
O level is to think that the US wants to buy the missile from Turkey to copy the tech or counter it.
A level is to know that they are making 'noise' about what should be secret in order to cover up that they already have the info they want on that missile and are trying to confuse everyone to protect the source OR they have decided not to sell F35 to Turkey and just looking for flimsy excuse to cancel. Turkey knows they cannot sell that missile.

There is nothing really secret about the S-400 SAM defence system that the US don't already know per se. The system comes straight out of the old and modified version of the S-300, which is a very capable defence system that America knows very much about. Here is the reality: the Yankees have already tried the S-400 system in Syria and with a rude awakening, they've realised that it sharply reduces America's key advatange in air superiority by 70 percent in traditional warfare, as the system renders planes with stealth technology useless. That was the sole reason the Turkish military pushed erdogan to buy the system from Russia at all cost, even to the extent of damning their relationship with the U.S and foregoing their huge investment in the F35 programm.

Turkish military leaders and and strategic planners were aware of the chess game being played over the sky of Syria by US and Russia forces testing out each other's capabilities. They witnessed first hand how the S-400 was "painting" every US planes flying in the East of the Euphrates, and sadly, that include the F22 raptors packed in the Icirlik airbase in Turkey.

So, the Turk's weighed their options and concluded that it is useless committing billions to a stealth plane (the F35 overrated flying coffin) which cannot hide from a Russian SAM system that is far less per unit of product when compared to a regiment of the planes. So they went for what was best for their strategic interest.

Other countries in the Middle East are aware of this reality also, and a number of them are already queueing up to buy the S-400 too, which isn't good for Uncle Sam.

As for the US, they know there is nothing they can do concerning the capability of the S-400, other than to acualize the effect of CAATSA through maximum pressure with the hope that it will dissuade other prospective buyers of Russian weaponry from future acquisition as it poses a serious threat to US superiority in traditional areas of warfare. Buying 4th he system from Turkey to study it is not the major theme here because they know quite well that the export version is totally different from the original one operated by the Russian Air Force. Besides, the Russians could easily fry the system during key combats. So, the only way out is to maximum dissuasion.

That is what all these Senate hearing and proposed buying of the SAM from Turkey represents. The US already knew the sam capabilities and the only way around it is to prevent many countries from acquiring it because it does not only serve as a major threat to US air dominance but a potential market killer for its F35 and future stealth plane market.