Turkey Reportedly Sells Russian S-400 Systems to Gulf State to Rejoin F-35 Program

Turkey has sold the Russian-made S-400 air defense missile systems it purchased from Russia to one of the Gulf states, according to the Turkish newspaper Hürriyet.

Report Claims S-400 Systems Were Sold to a Gulf Country

"According to the information available to me, the S-400 systems have been sold to a third country. The deal will be announced today (July 10). The S-400s are being transferred to one of the Gulf states," wrote Abdulkadir Selvi, a journalist for Hürriyet.

According to him, efforts were underway the previous day to resolve "certain issues," and those problems had been settled by midnight. Some of the journalist's sources said the buyer was the United Arab Emirates, while others claimed the systems had been purchased by Qatar. The article notes that both countries require advanced air defense systems because of rising regional tensions following the conflict between the United States and Iran. Turkish authorities have not officially announced the deal.

Kremlin Calls the Issue Highly Sensitive

The issue of Turkey selling the Russian-made S-400 surface-to-air missile systems is highly sensitive, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, according to TASS.

According to him, Russia has held discussions with Turkey on the matter, and those contacts will continue.

Sale Could Lead to Removal of U.S. Sanctions

According to the publication, by disposing of the Russian S-400 systems, Turkey could free itself from U. S. sanctions imposed under the CAATSA legislation ("Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act"). The move could also allow Turkey to return to the U. S. fifth-generation F-35 Lightning II fighter jet program.

CAATSA (Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act) is a U. S. federal law that entered into force on August 2, 2017. It authorizes sanctions against countries that the United States considers its adversaries, including Russia, Iran, and North Korea.

Washington has maintained that the S-400 systems should neither remain on Turkish territory nor stay in service with the Turkish military. Various options had previously been discussed, including storing the systems under U. S. supervision, dismantling their launchers, or placing them in inactive status. However, the United States concluded that such measures would not satisfy the legal requirements of CAATSA.

Earlier Reports Suggested Other Potential Buyers

At the end of June, Euractiv reported that Turkey could sell the S-400 systems to South Korea instead of returning them to Russia. At the same time, Greece and Israel have expressed concern that supplying F-35 fighter jets to Turkey could alter the military balance in the region.

Background of the S-400 Deal

Turkey signed a contract to purchase the S-400 systems in 2017. The deal was worth approximately $2.5 billion, and the first systems were delivered in the summer of 2019. Following the delivery, Washington removed Ankara from the F-35 fighter program and, in December 2020, imposed sanctions under CAATSA.

Details

The S-400 Triumf (Russian: C-400 Триумф – Triumf; translation: Triumph; NATO reporting name: SA-21 Growler), previously known as the S-300 PMU-3, is a mobile surface-to-air missile (SAM) system developed in the 1990s by Russia's NPO Almaz as an upgrade to the S-300 family of missiles. The S-400 was approved for service on 28 April 2007 and the first battalion of the systems assumed combat duty on 6 August 2007. Its longest-ranged interceptor missile, the 40N6, has a purported range of 400 km. The S-400 can be integrated with the shorter-ranged Pantsir missile system, and potentially airborne radars such as of the Beriev A-50U and Sukhoi Su-35S.
The S-400 has been deployed by Russia, including in Belarus and Syria by China since 2018, by Turkey since 2019, and by India since 2021. The S-400 was deployed during Russian intervention in the Syrian civil war from 2015 until the fall of the Assad regime in 2024. China's People's Liberation Army Air Force purchased S-400 systems in 2014, receiving six batteries beginning in 2018, where its range has the potential to affect the Cross-Strait conflict and the Senkaku Islands dispute. The delivery of S-400s to Turkey, which cited US refusal to sell the upgraded MIM-104 Patriot system, trigged Turkey's expulsion from the F-35 fighter aircraft program. Russia has also deployed its own S-400s to Belarus, including from late 2021.