The last barriers for the deal were cleared in the amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act, which was passed by the US House of Representatives on December 8.
“Regarding the F-16 issue, a delegation is expected to go to the US to hold talks in the Senate in January,” Akar said, as quoted by the Yeni Akit newspaper.
In April 2021, the United States excluded Turkey from the program for the production of the latest F-35 fighters due to Ankara's purchase of Russia's S-400 air defense systems. In October 2021, Washington offered Ankara to buy F-16 fighters instead of F-35 jets. The proposed model is not of the fifth, but of the fourth generation.