The ninth plane carrying components of Russian S-400 air defense system arrived in Turkey on Monday, the Turkish Defense Ministry said
ANKARA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 15th July, 2019) The ninth plane carrying components of Russian S-400 air defense system arrived in Turkey on Monday, the Turkish Defense Ministry said."The delivery of S-400 parts continues as planned. The ninth plane has landed at Murted air base," the statement said.
It is unclear how many cargo aircraft are needed to transfer all batches of the air defense systems acquired by Turkey.
The first batch of S-400 components was brought to Turkey on Friday.
Moscow and Ankara signed a loan agreement for the delivery of S-400 systems in December 2017. Turkey's cooperation with Russia on the matter has been strongly criticized by the United States and NATO, which have cited concerns over the S-400s incompatibility with NATO's air defense systems.
The United States claims that S-400 systems may compromise the F-35 stealth jet project. Washington announced in June that it would not accept more Turkish pilots for F-35 training unless Turkey abandoned the agreement with Russia. Turkey, in turn, has insisted that it is not going to give up its $2.5 billion contract with Russia.
According to media reports, the United States has already decided on a package of sanctions against Turkey over the procurement of S-400 systems, which can be announced later in July.
