Turkey in talks to purchase anti-tank Kornet missiles from Russia

Turkey is in talks with Russia to purchase Kornet anti-tank guide missiles in the scope of the recent defense industry cooperation between the two countries.

Negotiations are also ongoing with Russia on possible cooperation aimed at strengthening the armor capabilities of Turkish tanks.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan met with his counterpart Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday at the 7th summit hosted in Istanbul by the Turkey-Russia High-Level Cooperation Council (UDIK), where the issue of military cooperation was on the agenda.

According to reports, it is expected that the maintenance of arms and munitions currently used in the ongoing fight against terror in Syria and northern Iraq are set to take precedence in the scope of the defense industry cooperation between Moscow and Ankara.

It is believed that the maintenance and sustainment of the Russian-made anti-tank Kornet missile currently used by the Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) will be among the prioritized urgent purchases from Russia.

Among Turkey’s other planned purchases from Russia are infantry equipment and vehicles.

Ankara and Moscow have agreed on the early delivery of the Russian S-400 air defense systems to Turkey, the leaders of the two countries said on Tuesday.

The S-400 is Russia's most advanced long-range anti-aircraft missile system with a capacity of carrying three types of missiles capable of destroying targets including ballistic and cruise missiles.

The system can track and engage up to 300 targets at a time and has an altitude ceiling of 27 kilometers (17 miles).

Russia, who possesses an advanced defense industry, has become a powerful partner for Turkey against the arms embargo imposed by its Western allies.

Recent cooperation between the two countries is only expected to deepen in the near future as Russia solidifies its place as an alternative supplier.

The range of products developed by Russia, chiefly its state-of-the-art motor technology, presents crucial opportunities to offset any hardship faced during the Defense Industry Consultancy’s ongoing projects.

Work has been ongoing for an extended period regarding the strengthening of the armor capabilities of Turkey’s tank fleet.

Projects such as the purchase of the S-400 missile defense system are now possible in the scope of the “long-term” cooperation between Turkey and Russia.

The main reason for this is that the TAF has long used systems that are compatible with NATO, which made it difficult for Turkey to purchase Russian-made defense systems.

Work has already started in order to circumvent the same compatibility issue that is also encountered when integrating long-term missile defense systems.

Turkey and Russia signed the S-400 accord in December, finalizing a $2.5 billion deal which deepened military ties between NATO member Turkey and the Kremlin.

“We brought forward the delivery date in the accord signed with Russia to provide the S-400 system and scheduled a date of July 2019,” Turkish Undersecretary for Defence Industries Ismail Demir wrote on Twitter overnight.

His comment came after the two countries’ presidents held talks on Tuesday and marked the official start of work to build Turkey’s $20 billion first nuclear power station at Akkuyu on its Mediterranean coast.