Turkey is upping its initial F-35 buy from two airframes to six, the country’s Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu announced earlier this week. “It is planned that Turkey will buy 100 F-35 warplanes in the project,” Davatoglu said, quoted by Reuters on Jan. 7. “We previously ordered two in this framework. We have now decided to order four more,” he said following a defense procurement meeting on Wednesday. The Turkish air force’s first batch of F-35As were planned as part of low-rate initial production Lot 10, which would be delivered in 2015. Turkey is one of the nine Joint Strike Fighter program partners, and was recently designated the European-region’s heavy engine maintenance pole for multi-national F-35 operators, including the Air Force. Turkey’s planned F-35A buy is estimated to be approximately a $16 billion investment.
Three of four congressional committees with influence over defense policy have voted to change the official name of the Department of Defense to the Department of War—but final approval of the Pentagon rebrand is months away and not yet assured.