Hewson: Turkey's F-35s could be purchased by other countries

By Marjorie Censer / May 29, 2019 at 12:14 PM

If Turkey is barred from purchasing Lockheed Martin's F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, other countries are eager to take their aircraft, the company's chief executive said today.

Turkey has been suspended from the F-35 program since April over its decision to continue buying the Russian-made S-400 air defense system. Earlier this month, Ellen Lord, the Pentagon's acquisition czar, said the two systems are "incompatible."

During a conference hosted by Bernstein today, Marillyn Hewson, Lockheed's CEO, said Turkey was not slated to purchase a significant number of aircraft.

"It will be backfilled," she said. "In fact, a lot of countries say, 'We'll take their slots.'"

"So I don't envision that being an impact on us," Hewson added.

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