Washington Notifies Congress of an 80-Engine, USD 700 Million-Plus F110 Sale for Turkey's KAAN as Trump Dangles F-35 Readmission
Ankara, 7 July 2026
Key points
- On 24 June 2026 the US State Department notified Congress, via Defense Security Cooperation Agency transmittal 24-051, of a foreign military sale worth more than USD 700 million for roughly 80 General Electric F110-GE-129 engines — the powerplant for Turkey's indigenous KAAN fighter — opening a 15-day disapproval window
- At the NATO summit in Ankara on 7 July, President Trump said he would lift the CAATSA sanctions imposed on Turkey in 2020 and would “certainly” consider restoring it to the F-35 programme, from which it was expelled in 2019 after taking delivery of the Russian S-400
- A discussed but unresolved fix is to relocate the S-400 to a third country; Trump said he had “no concerns” about the battery, while Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu urged him to deny both jets and engines, saying a sale would “destroy the power balance in the Middle East”
- Turkey signed for 20 Eurofighter Typhoons, worth up to GBP 8 billion, in October 2025 — a purchase taken up because it was locked out of the F-35
On 24 June 2026 the US State Department notified Congress of a sale worth more than USD 700 million for roughly 80 General Electric F110 engines — the powerplant for Turkey's indigenous KAAN fighter — and at the NATO summit in Ankara on 7 July President Trump went further, promising to lift Turkey's sanctions and to “certainly” consider its return to the F-35.
The engine notification is the concrete step. Defense Security Cooperation Agency transmittal 24-051, sent to Congress on 24 June, covers about 80 F110-GE-129 engines and opened the 15-day window in which either chamber may pass a resolution of disapproval. On 3 July Representative Dina Titus introduced such a resolution, but it has not advanced and is not expected to; barring a move before the window closes around 9 July, the sale clears — a NATO ally on the fast track for the engine that powers the fighter Ankara calls indigenous.
The fighter itself is the harder question, and here Trump offered words rather than instruments. “We're going to be taking the sanctions off,” he told reporters before meeting President Erdoğan; “we don't want to sanction friends.” On the F-35 he was softer — Turkey had been “much more loyal” than other allies, and readmission was “certainly something we will consider.” Washington expelled Turkey from the programme in 2019 and sanctioned its procurement agency under CAATSA in 2020, after Ankara took delivery of the Russian S-400 air-defence system. Erdoğan said Trump had earlier pledged him five aircraft.
The obstacle has been given a possible route out rather than removed. Reuters reports a solution gaining traction — relocating the S-400 to a third country — though no deal is sealed and Russian end-user rules complicate it; Trump said he had “no concerns” about the battery at all. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, in a television interview, urged him to deny both jets and engines, warning a sale would “destroy the power balance in the Middle East.”
The proprietary read. The engine is done business; the fighter is theatre. As Signal No. 98 set out, every fifth-generation gain Turkey stands to make runs back through one signature — the F-35 is Washington's to grant, and the “indigenous” KAAN flies on an American engine Congress can still block. The durable precedent is the one being set quietly: an S-400 operator welcomed back toward the stealth-fighter tent with the Russian battery merely relocated, not surrendered. Readmission would also recast Ankara's GBP 8 billion Eurofighter order — Europe's consolation prize when Turkey was locked out — as a bridge rather than a fleet.
Sources: US Defense Security Cooperation Agency · US Department of State · Reuters · CNN.
First reported in Signal No. 98, 7 July 2026.