Turkey determined to test NATO
Turkey’s bargaining with Russia for the S-400 air defense system raises a number of military issues, the least of which being that the system is incompatible with NATO's defense structure.
Following Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s March 10 meeting in Moscow with President Vladimir Putin, it was reported that Turkey was engaged in negotiations to procure the Russian-made S-400 air defense system. Sergei Chemezov, the CEO of the Russian state-owned Rostec, said on March 14 that Turkey had asked for credit to buy the system, but that a deal had not yet been reached. “As soon as an agreement is signed and a decision is made on the amount of the loan, then we will sign a contract for the supply,” he said. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed a day later that both sides were interested in a deal.
NATO member Turkey opting for a Russian defensive system has serious ramifications, no doubt affecting Turkey’s strategic military and political relations. Since deciding that it should have its own defense system instead of relying solely on NATO, Turkey has been wavering between the various offerings of its Western allies and Chinese and Russian alternatives.
Turkey's desire for its own long-range air defense system did not begin with the Justice and Development Party. Ankara began toying with obtaining the US-made Patriot system since the 1991 Gulf War. Today, Turkey maintains its own US-made MIM-14B Nike Hercules and MIM-23B Hawk and British-made Rapier air defense systems. Defense experts say these medium-range systems, developed in the 1950s, are inadequate against the latest aerial weapons and advanced jets.
Given the surprising, and for Ankara somewhat worrying, progress of Iran’s national defense industry, Turkey has been questioning the wisdom of confining itself to NATO assets. Thus, in the last few years, Turkey has been thinking of acquiring a long-range air defense system in addition to developing its own national missile system. In 2013, it took bids for Raytheon-Lockheed Martin's Patriot system, Rosoboronexport's S-300-400, Eurosam's SAMP/T Aster 30 and the Chinese CPMIEC FD-2000 defense missile systems.
