Lockheed Martin sends out invitations to Turkey for the official handover of the first Turkish F-35A on Jun. 21

Lockheed Martin sends out invitations to Turkey for the official handover of the first Turkish F-35A on Jun. 21

By Dario Leone
Jun 5 2018
Share this article

“Lockheed Martin would be happy to see you by our side during ‘The Republic of Turkey F-35 Delivery Ceremony’ at Fort Worth on June 21,” Lockheed Martin official invitation letter

Lockheed Martin has sent out invitations to Turkey for the official handover of the first Turkish F-35A on Jun. 21, 2018.

“Lockheed Martin would be happy to see you by our side during ‘The Republic of Turkey F-35 Delivery Ceremony’ at Fort Worth on June 21,” Lockheed Martin official invitation letter says.

“The handover of the first warplane will take place after the reception on June 21,” the invitation letter adds. Turkey plans to purchase 100 examples of F-35A, conventional takeoff and landing variant of the Joint Strike Fighter. According Daily Sabah, Turkey’s first Lightning II will enter service in November 2019.

Noteworthy the handover comes as U.S. lawmakers try to derail the process over the detention of a U.S. citizen and Turkey’s attempt to buy the Russian S-400 air defense missile system.

Lockheed Martin sends out invitations to Turkey for the official handover of the first Turkish F-35A on Jun. 21
This print is available in multiple sizes from AircraftProfilePrints.com – CLICK HERE TO GET YOURS. F-35A Lightning II 56th OG, 61st FS, LF/12-5050 / 2014

As already reported, Ankara may switch to buying the Russian Su-57 (or Su-35) if Washington decides to suspend the delivery of F-35.

“If they take such a step at a moment when we are trying to mend our bilateral ties, they will definitely get a response from Turkey. There is no longer the old Turkey,” Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu told private broadcaster CNN Türk in an interview on May 6.

If Turkey had to buy the Su-57 it would be the first country (outside Russia) to buy the first Russian stealth fighter after India dropped out of Sukhoi/HAL Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA), known in India as the Perspective Multirole Fighter (PMF), which actually was a derivative project of the Sukhoi Su-57.

The following video shows flight testing of the first Turkish F-35A.

Artwork courtesy of AircraftProfilePrints.com


Share this article

Dario Leone

Dario Leone

Dario Leone is an aviation, defense and military writer. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviation Geek Club” one of the world’s most read military aviation blogs. His writing has appeared in The National Interest and other news media. He has reported from Europe and flown Super Puma and Cougar helicopters with the Swiss Air Force.

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Share this article


Share this article
Share this article

Always up to date! News and offers delivered directly to you!

Get the best aviation news, stories and features from The Aviation Geek Club in our newsletter, delivered straight to your inbox.

Error: Contact form not found.


Share this article
Back to top
My Agile Privacy
This website uses technical and profiling cookies. Clicking on "Accept" authorises all profiling cookies. Clicking on "Refuse" or the X will refuse all profiling cookies. By clicking on "Customise" you can select which profiling cookies to activate. We and our selected ad partners can store and/or access information on your device, such as cookies, unique identifiers, browsing data. You can always choose the specific purposes related to profiling by accessing the advertising preferences panel, and you can always withdraw your consent at any time by clicking on "Manage consent" at the bottom of the page.

List of some possible advertising permissions:

You can consult: our list of advertising partners, the Cookie Policy and the Privacy Policy.
Warning: some page functionalities could not work due to your privacy choices