BICOM

Russia will deliver its advanced S-400 missile defence system to Turkey in 2019, ahead of schedule.

Turkey and Russia negotiated the purchase in 2017, finalising a deal worth up to $2.5bn. The original date for delivery was the first quarter of 2020, but the Interfax news agency reported that the delivery date had been brought forward to July 2019.

The S-400 system is considered the most advanced Russian long-range anti-aircraft missile system. The launcher can use at least four types of interceptor missiles, suited to different targets, up to 400km away.

“The contract of the S-400 to Turkey is being executed within the agreed timeline. In 2019, we will begin to fulfil this contract,” said Alexander Mikheyev, chief of Rosoboronexport, Russia’s state weapons exporter.

The news follows a growing rift between Turkey and its NATO ally, the US. The US has expressed concern that Turkey’s deployment of the S-400 could risk the security of several US-made weapons used by Turkey, including the F-35 jet. Turkey’s acquisition of the S-400 system is viewed as problematic for NATO as it not interoperable with NATO weapons systems.

The US Senate has prevented the delivery of a further 100 F-35s to Turkey until the Pentaon completes an assessment of relations between the US and Turkey and the effect of Turkey’s purchase of the S-400.

Speaking at a panel discussion on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Brussels in July, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu claimed the Russian-made system poses no threat to NATO. He said: “I tried to buy from my allies. I wanted to buy from the U.S. for the last 10 years; it didn’t work. I couldn’t buy from NATO allies, so Russia gave me the best proposal. And now I’m buying from Russia.”

China and India have already purchased the S-400 missile system and Saudi Arabia and Qatar are both also considering buying it. Rosoboronexport also said it would switch to using local currencies in deals with foreign trade partners, instead of using the US dollar.