The Turkish government approved negotiations to proceed for the purchase of the F-35 strike fighter. Turkey’s defense procurement ministry is now expected to formally ink a deal for Turkey’s first two F-35s, with delivery expected in 2015, reported Turkey’s Hurriyet Daily News. “Lockheed Martin is pleased that the [Turkish] Defense Industry Executive Committee has authorized the procurement of the F-35,” Michael Rein, Lockheed’s F-35 spokesman, told the Daily Report on Jan. 6. “Turkey is an essential partner in F-35 production, development, and sustainment activities and we remain ready to support its future fighter aircraft requirements,” he added. One of the nine F-35 development partners, Turkey reportedly plans to purchase some 100 F-35s. Purchase negotiations with Turkey stalled last March, allegedly due to US refusal to share sensitive software coding.
More than 20 tankers lined the runway at McConnell Air Force Base, Kan., on March 27, for an “elephant walk” and the base’s largest mass launch of aircraft ever. Sixteen KC-46s and five KC-135s participated in the flush, with aircraft and Airmen from the 22nd Air Refueling Wing and the 931st…