Work on S-400 continues, results to be announced — Turkish Defense Ministry

ANKARA, July 16. /TASS/. The Turkish Defense Ministry has announced that certain work is continuing on the S-400 air defense missile systems purchased from Russia, but did not specify what exactly.

"Work on the S-400 Long-Range Regional Air and Missile Defense Systems is continuing in multiple dimensions. It will be shared with the public when there are concrete developments," a ministry spokesperson said at a briefing for journalists in Ankara. The ministry did not provide any clarification on what exactly this work entails.

The pro-government Turkish newspaper Hurriyet reported last week that, according to its information, the S-400s were resold to a Persian Gulf country. The UAE and Qatar were mentioned as the most likely buyers. Turkish authorities have not officially confirmed this information.

Turkey purchased four S-400 anti-aircraft missile battalions from Russia in 2017 under a $2.5 billion agreement. In October 2019, Russia’s arms exporter Rosoboronexport (part of the state tech corporation Rostec) announced that the contract for the systems had been fulfilled. Following the signing of the contract between Turkey and Russia for the supply of a regimental set of S-400 systems, Ankara was excluded from the US program to develop the next-generation F-35 fighter jet.