A joint drill with the U.S. Air Force has nothing to do with recent developments in the region, Türkiye’s Defense Ministry announced on Monday, according to Turkish media outlets.
The two-day exercise in Turkish airspace will involve a Joint Attack Controller exercise and mid-air refueling training, the ministry said, noting that the drill was planned far in advance. Turkish F-16 fighter jets will join U.S. warplanes for the drill.
Türkiye and the United States are NATO allies, and the country is host to Incirlik, a major air base in the country’s south jointly used by the armies of the two countries.
Turkish and U.S. forces regularly hold military exercises but the latest drill came at a time of heightened U.S. military activity in the region amid Iran’s retaliatory attacks targeting Israel, which earlier struck an Iranian diplomatic mission in Syria.
In terms of aerial defense, Türkiye is one of the largest operators of F-16 jets, with its fleet made up of more than 200 older Block 30/40/50 models. Türkiye earlier sought Lockheed Martin's more advanced F-35 fighter jets, but the U.S. removed it from the multinational program to buy, and help develop and build the warplane in 2019 after it acquired S-400s from Russia.
Last month, the U.S. Senate soundly defeated an effort to block the sale of F-16 fighter jets to Türkiye, which the Biden administration approved after Ankara ratified Sweden's joining the NATO alliance. The Biden administration formally informed Congress on Jan. 26 of its intention to proceed with the $23 billion sale of 40 Lockheed Martin F-16s and nearly 80 modernization kits to Türkiye, a day after Ankara fully completed ratification of the NATO membership of Sweden.
