WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Jim Mattis is urging Congress not to bar Turkey from purchasing the Lockheed Martin F-35, arguing that to do so would trigger an international “supply chain disruption” resulting in delays and higher costs for the $100 million aircraft. “At this time, I oppose removal of Turkey from the F-35 program,” Mattis said in a letter to lawmakers negotiating over the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act. Turkey, a NATO ally who has invested $1.25 billion in the program since 2002, plans to buy 100 aircraft. “If the Turkish supply…
Category: Military
Now Iraq Has Started Bombing Syria Too..
The U.S., France, the UK, Israel, Turkey, Russia, and other countries that are participating in the U.S.-led air campaign against ISIS in eastern Syria are all bombing the war-torn country. Now, after a week of aerial chaos over Syria that started with a large coordinated cruise missile strike on chemical weapons-related targets, followed by repeated attacks by the Isreali Air Force, and news that Iran is now deploying air defense assets to the country, as well as the possibility that ISIS may be on the rise again there, Iraq has waded into the air combat fray.…