The Russian Ministry of Defence has said in a recent statement that the Pentagon has reasons to worry about Turkey obtaining S-400 air defence systems, the first portions of which were shipped this summer.
"The shiver and worries of the Pentagon over Turkey-based S-400 air defence systems potentially lifting the veil on the F-35 fighter jets’ secrets are not entirely unfounded", the statement said.
Responding to recent claims of an American general that the US can penetrate Russian air defences in the Kaliningrad Region, the ministry further noted that the F-35s are only "invisible" to their foreign buyers and US taxpayers. The statement said that NATO pilots, who flew close to Russia's borders in the Baltics, are "well aware" of how well the region is protected.
Commander of the US Air Forces in Europe and Africa, Gen. Jeffrey Lee Harrigian was earlier quoted by the outlet Breaking Defense as claiming that the US has developed plans to breach the Kaliningrad Integrated Air Defence System (IADS) in the event of a military conflict with Russia.
"If we have to go in there to take down, for instance, the Kaliningrad IADS, let there be no doubt we have a plan to go after that […] We train to that. We think through those plans all the time, and […] if that would ever come to fruition, we’d be ready to execute", Harrigian said.
The Russian Foreign Ministry has stated that in light of Harrigian's interview, Moscow sees such "irresponsible" statements as a "threat".
