Recently, there have been rumors that Turkey plans to purchase Chinese Thunder fighters, which has aroused widespread concern in the international arms trade market. The Turkish Air Force is currently armed with mainly F-16C D fighters introduced from the United States in the 90s of the last century. This fighter has been in service for more than 20 years, and although it was once an advanced fighter, it has become inadequate with the rapid development of military technology. Therefore, for Turkey, it is already urgent to update air power.
However, one of the challenges faced by the Turkish Air Force is that it is difficult to buy the right fighter jets. Due to Turkey's purchase of Russian S-400 air defense systems despite NATO's opposition, the United States suspended the ** Turkish F-35, and now it does not even want to give the F-16V. This puts the Turkish Air Force in an awkward position.
Against this background, Turkey had to consider the purchase of Chinese Thunder fighters. The Thunder Dragon fighter is an all-weather, single-seat light multi-role fighter jointly developed by China and Pakistan. The aircraft adopts the normal layout of the side strip wing with a medium aspect ratio, with a total of 7 external attachment points, which can be attached to a variety of air-to-air and air-to-ground ** systems greater than 3600 kg. The Thunder fighter has outstanding comprehensive combat performance, and at the same time has the characteristics of lightness, smallness, and low cost, and is a "star of air combat" that can fully meet the requirements of modern warfare and the market demand of military aircraft.
In particular, the latest Thunder Block3 fighter has upgraded advanced radar and electronic warfare systems to improve the ability to detect and identify targets. The ability to carry advanced systems, including precision-guided bombs, air-to-air missiles, and air-to-ship missiles, has significantly improved its air combat and multi-purpose capabilities. It is a strong competitor of the US military's F16 fighter in the international arms sales market. Therefore, in the absence of obtaining F16V fighters, the introduction of Thunder fighters is also an important option to improve Turkey's military strength.
However, despite rumors that Turkey is considering the purchase of Chinese fighters, this possibility is actually very small. On the one hand, Turkey, as a member of NATO, needs to face various restrictions and pressures from NATO in its military cooperation with China. On the other hand, military cooperation between China and Turkey also needs to face complex issues such as technology transfer and intellectual property protection. Moreover, Turkey has also released Chinese pigeons in the international arms sales market.
In 2015, Turkey had decided to buy a batch of Hongqi-9 anti-aircraft missiles from China to improve its air defense capabilities and strengthen it, but after the two sides reached an agreement, Turkey tore up the contract after obtaining the relevant technical parameters of Hongqi-9. Turkey's behavior not only disappointed and angry China, but also made China look forward to Turkey's exports in the future. Therefore, Turkey's rumor that it hopes to buy Thunder fighters this time is probably just to increase its bargaining chips with the United States and European countries.
At present, the international situation is unpredictable, especially after the intensification of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the situation in the Middle East as a whole is more volatile, and Turkey is also eager to solve the problem of its fighter jets as soon as possible. After all, military cooperation is an important part of the relationship between the two countries, but if it only wants to use it as a bargaining chip as a bargaining chip with the United States, we don't need to bother with it.