Why Turkey might buy Russia's S-400 defence system
A potential defence deal between Turkey and Russia could enhance their military cooperation but would not mend ties.
by
Can Kasapoglu
Can Kasapoglu is a defense analyst at the Istanbul-based think-tank the Center for Economics and Foreign Policy Studies.

Recently, top Turkish authorities have voiced an official interest in buying advanced S-400 air and missile defence systems from the Russian Federation. Turkey's efforts to enhance its defensive strategic military capabilities is not new. For some years now it has sought to have a long-range missile defence system of its own, as it is currently relying on NATO-deployed ballistic missile.

In 2013, Ankara awarded a tender to a Chinese company for missile defence systems procurement, which drew a sharp reaction from its NATO allies and the $3.4bn deal had to be scrapped. Other bidders at that time were the United States with Patriot systems, and the French-Italian consortium with the SAMP/T Aster-30 Block-1 variant. It was known that Russia showed interest in the tender, but it was not shortlisted.

This time, amid the tense Turkish-European relations and the still unclear US plan for Syria, it seems more likely that Ankara will go for this major non-NATO arms deal with Moscow.

How Turkey will benefit

The S-400 deal, by its nature, would mean much more than a battle tank or utility helicopter purchase. First and foremost, the S-400 is a defensive strategic weapons system. In other words, the primary objective of such a procurement would be the control of Turkish airspace and even the projection of some air-defence deterrent beyond Turkish borders, as well as protecting Turkey's critical national infrastructure and top-priority economic, military and government facilities from air and missile threats.


Can Turkey and Russia become allies? - Inside Story

Furthermore, in case of a broader technology transfer, Ankara will gain important know-how in missile proliferation, which it also sought with the 2013 tender. Additionally, this could enhance further Turkish-Russian defence cooperation.

Unlike the failed HQ-9 deal with China, this time, Turkish officials are much more realistic, knowing that if the deal with Russia goes as planned, the S-400 system will not be integrated with the NATO missile defence architecture. This perspective is realistic because such an integration would not be merely a military-technical issue, but more of a political and security decision. Now, Turkish decision-makers know that this might enable Moscow to have access to invaluable information about NATO's critical capabilities.

From a military standpoint, lack of integration to the NATO architecture would mark some problems. Missile defence is a complicated mission that necessitates an advanced network of command and control, sensors, intelligence, target acquisition and surveillance systems.

It seems Ankara is pursuing a dual-track defence planning strategy by retaining its key role in the NATO's ballistic missile defence efforts through the X-band radar in Kurecik, while running its national agenda with more flexible technology-transfer options at the same time. Although such a perspective might be accomplished, this would be a significant burden on Turkish diplomacy and defence economics.

Technically, there is no rule within the NATO treaty that would prohibit member states from procuring Russian arms, and there are allied nations that currently have them. Although Russian strategic weapons in NATO-member nations' arsenals seem problematic for allied coherence, it might be disadvantageous for Russia as well.


Read More




Source = www.aljazeera.com

For more foreign News visit [url=http://www.just2ok.com/search/label/Foreign%20Affairs?m=0?&max-results=8]Here[/url]

I don't think it will work out. The Turk's need America even thier relationship is not good