According to an article by Reuters, the US will not be training any new Turkish F-35 pilots due to the increased tensions over the Russian S-400 missile defense systems.

Reuters based the article on two American government officials who were not named. The article says new Turkish pilots planned to arrive at the military base in Arizona won’t be receiving training for the F-35.

The officials said the decision doesn’t include the Turkish pilots already in training in the Luke Air Force Base in Luke, Arizona.

US Department of Defense did not yet comment on the news that training for Turkish pilots is to be halted.

The US had warned Turkey before that if they purchased S-400 air defense systems, they could be subjected to sanctions.

US Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan issued a statement last week and said their view on Turkey’s purchase of the S-400 system hasn’t changed and that if Ankara goes through with this plan, they should not be delivered the F-35 jets.

WINTERNITZ: NO PRECAUTION WOULD MITIGATE CONCERNS

According to the Voice of America website, the Department of Defense Chief Director for European and NATO Policy Andrew Winternitz spoke about the S-400s at a meeting by the Foreign Policy journal on Defense in Europe and said no precautions would mitigate concerns in this matter.

American and Turkish officials had announced that US President Donald Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan came to an agreement on the working group after their phone call last week.

Winternitz stressed that Turkey’s purchase of the S-400 systems would create an unacceptable risk for the US and said, “No precautions would mitigate our concerns in this matter.”

Andrew Winternitz was reminded that the S-400s are expected to be delivered to Turkey in June, and asked what steps Washington was taking to suspend Turkey’s participation in the F-35 program. Department of Defense official Winternitz said, “We will see what happens, then we will make a decision. I won’t speculate on what we could be doing.”

WARNING OF SANCTIONS

Winternitz referred to the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) and said: “As you all know, the Congress passed a law that foresees sanctions in case countries purchase equipment from our enemies. In a manner of speaking, that is where we are at right now.

Some parts for the F-35 fighter jets manufactured by the American company Lockheed Martin are procured from Turkey. In early April, American officials had informed their Turkish counterparts that the delivery of equipment related to the F-35 fighter jet project was halted. American sources had said delivery for all future training equipment and all F-35 related equipment had been cancelled.

The US and other NATO allies that have F-35 jets are concerned for the S-400 systems, particularly for Russia learning how to identify and track F-35s with the S-400 system and that the effectiveness of these jets against Russian made weapons will decrease in the future.