An F-35 Lightning II completes a series of night flights, testing the ability to fly the jet safely in instrument meteorological conditions where the pilot has no external visibility references.
- Turkey has roiled NATO by buying S-400 missile defenses from Russia, with experts arguing that allowing Russian systems in NATO defenses could massively weaken the alliance's ability to fight Moscow.
- But experts are strangely ignoring the fact that NATO will soon possess Russia's top fighter jet killer.
- This could prove extremely valuable for US jets in a fight against Russia.
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Turkey's purchase of Russia's top-of-the-line S-400 missile
Articles on the threat posed to the F-35 program by the S-400 are a dime a dozen, with experts across the board agreeing that networking Russian systems into NATO's air defenses spells a near death sentence for allied air power.
Additionally, scores of US experts have argued that Turkey's S-400 could get a peak at the F-35's stealth technology and glean important intelligence on the new plane meant to serve as the backbone of US airpower for decades to come.
But something weird is going on with the US's laser focus on F-35's security. Michael Kofman, a senior research scientist at CNA, a nonprofit research and analysis organization, told Defense One this should be cause for concern.
"For some reason coverage tends not to ask the question of how are Russians planning to deal with the potential problem of US intelligence being all over their system in Turkey," he said.
"Russians are not crying about selling their best tech to a NATO country, despite the obvious implications for technology access. That should make us wonder," he continued.
Basically, while Russia's installation and support for S-400 systems in Turkey may give it intel on the F-35, Turkey, a NATO country, having Russia's best weapon against against US airpower could spell doom for the system.
If the US cracks the S-400, Russia is in trouble
Russian Defense Ministry Russian S-400 batteries in Syria.
Russia relies on its missile defenses to keep its assets at home and abroad safe as it pursues increasingly risky military escalations in theaters like Ukraine and Syria. Defeating these systems, potentially, could leave Russia vulnerable to attack.
But if the US can take a look at Russia's S-400 "depends entirely on what conditions the Russians manage to hold the Turks to in terms of allowing NATO (US) access to inspect the system," Justin Bronk, an aerial combat expert at the Royal United Services Institute, told Business Insider.
"It's potentially a very valuable source of previously unavailable information about a threat system which is a specific priority for the alliance and the US has never come into possession of an S-400 before," Bronk said. However, "it may be that the system is actually operated by and guarded by Russian personnel in Turkey which could complicate things," he continued.
Also, Russia's export version of the S-400 doesn't exactly match the version they use at home, but a former top US Air Force official told Business Insider that the US already has insight into Russia's anti-air capabilities, and that the export version isn't too far off from the genuine article.
Russia needs the money?
Turkish Military/Turkish Defence Ministry/Handout via REUTERS First parts of a Russian S-400 missile-defense system are unloaded from a Russian plane at Murted Airport, known as Akinci Air Base, near Ankara, Turkey, July 12, 2019.
"Russia will sell them to whomever will give them the cash," the source continued, pointing to Russia's weak economy as a potential explanation for making the risky move of selling S-400 systems to a NATO country.
So while Russia may get some intelligence on the F-35 through its relationship with Turkey, that road runs both ways.
Furthermore, while US stealth aircraft represent individual systems, Russia's missile defenses serve as an answer to multiple US platforms, including naval missiles. Therefore, Russia having its S-400 mechanics exposed may prove a worse proposition than the F-35 being somewhat exposed to Russian eyes.
"Getting a look at the system architecture and the hardware would still be extremely valuable for NATO," Bronk concluded.