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F-35 sale to Turkey runs into congressional buzz saw

The sale of more than 100 fifth-generation fighter jets is in jeopardy amid worsening US tensions with its NATO ally.
A F-35 fighter jet performs a vertical landing on the USS Wasp during sea trials off the coast of Virginia, October 18, 2011. Critics say the F-35, which comes in three variants, is an ill-conceived multipurpose aircraft that tries to do too many things and will ultimately excel at none. Its stealthy fuselage and high-tech systems, some say, are so complex and difficult to maintain they will inevitably make it unaffordable. But advocates view the aircraft as a war-fighting platform for the networked, iPad g

The Donald Trump administration faces growing pressure from US lawmakers to freeze the sale of F-35 jets to Turkey as the NATO ally holds an American pastor in jail and pushes to acquire Russian military equipment.

The Senate Armed Services Committee this week advanced must-pass annual defense legislation that calls on the administration to remove Turkey from the fifth-generation fighter program over its detention of Andrew Brunson. The equivalent House bill, meanwhile, would hold up major arms sales to Turkey until the administration submits a report on the state of US-Turkish military and diplomatic relations amid Turkish efforts to buy the Russian S-400 air defense system.

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