Turkey is under growing pressure over the deteriorating state of its air force, which Ankara understands would struggle to face either Israel or Greece in any future aerial confrontation.
The Turkish Air Force is widely seen as outdated compared to the Israeli Air Force, which operates stealth F-35 aircraft alongside advanced F-15s. Turkish concern intensified further after Greece also began acquiring F-35s, creating a scenario that Turkish leaders reportedly view as a strategic nightmare in any potential clash with Athens.
Turkey’s predicament began after the US expelled Ankara from the F-35 program following its refusal to abandon the Russian-made S-400 air defense systems it purchased. Washington argued that operating advanced US stealth aircraft near Russian radar systems risked exposing highly classified American technology to Moscow.
Since then, the US has also declined to provide Turkey with modernization packages for its aging F-16 fleet, leaving the Turkish Air Force increasingly behind both Israel and Greece in qualitative terms.