It’s official: Turkey will buy F-35 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft. The news came via Turkish Daily News that quotes Turkish Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul as saying Turkey will sign the memorandum of understanding to show its commitment to the purchase. TDN also reports that Gonul said Turkey plans to buy “around 100” F-35s and wants to arrange for a Turkish “work share worth up to $6 billion” for work on the JSF. So far, Turkey only has “pledges” for about $4.2 billion. Turkish Air Force and General Staff officials were cited recently as saying they preferred buying the JSF rather than Europe’s Eurofighter. However, Gonul did not specify if Turkey was still considering buying some Typhoon aircraft.
Promotions to the Space Force’s second highest enlisted grade, senior master sergeant, have surged to the highest level in the young service’s history, bolstering the senior NCO corps as officials plan to aggressively expand the force and especially the enlisted corps.