Turkey's purchase of Russian S-400 anti-air missiles is causing a major controversy.

Russians walk by S-400 missiles in Volgograd. Reuters.

Turkey's purchase of Russian S-400 anti-air missiles is causing a major dispute with their US allies. Reuters. Turkey has threaten reciprocal action if the US imposes sanctions in the wake of the purchase. In addition to the sanctions, if Turkey accepts delivery of the system, the US would push Turkey out of the F-35 program. NATO says the system would be incomparable with their air defenses while the US says that the system would be a threat to the F-35 program. Turkey seems determined to keep the missiles though and have pointed out that it is too late to cancel the order. 

My Comment:

Turkey yet again proving that they are a poor ally. The entire reason NATO exists is to counter Russia, not buy their missiles. If Turkey were to use these missiles in a war it would probably be against Russian air craft so the purchase makes little sense in the first place. And it's not like the US and other governments couldn't sell a comparable system to the Turks. 

Are the S-400's a threat to US interests? I think so. Both the F-35 and the older F-22's have a big advantage over the Russians as their radar and missile systems are unfamiliar with the planes. They have gathered some data in the Syrian conflict but giving this tech to the Turks seems like a sure way to gather more info on the advanced fighter jets. 

America also doesn't want Turkey propping up Russia's weapon industry. Part of that is due to a desire to not compete with them, America makes a lot of money on weapons sales as well. But Russia is under sanctions for their behavior in Ukraine and elsewhere and this weapons sale is a major middle finger to that effort. 

Will the sale go through? Almost certainly. Turkey is being extremely stubborn here and would take it as a major matter of pride if they had to turn the weapons away. It would be a major loss of face for them and they won't allow that. 

I will say that they do have a point though. These weapons are already paid for. They aren't getting their money back if they cancel delivery and have very little reason to not take delivery, other than US objections. They never should have ordered the S-400 system in the first place but that's neither here nor there. 

I do think that the US-Turkey alliance is probably on the way out. Turkey has been a very poor ally as of late and helped let the ISIS situation in Syria and Iraq get out of control. They also hate the Kurds, who have been a great ally against ISIS, even when not compared with how terrible Turkey has been. They have taken a more authoritarian and religious path as well that is not compatible with US values. I would love to see them treated the same way we treat Iran and completely kicked out of NATO and any other US alliance.