Advanced interceptor missiles manufactured by Russia and operated by the Turkish military are still part of Ankara’s defense capability, and reports Moscow or Kyiv will acquire the weapons are inaccurate, a Turkish army spokesman said on Friday.
Asked by reporters to comment on news articles appearing both in Ukrainian and Russian media talks were in progress for the transfer of two high tech S-400 air defense systems from Turkish army ownership to another country, Admiral Zeki Aktürk said that the weapons are Türkiye’s and no one else’s.
“The S-400 Air Defense Systems are in our inventory. There is no change in our stance on the S-400,” Aktürk said, at a weekly Türkiye Defense Ministry briefing in Ankara.
Developed during the late Cold War and continually thereafter, the S-400 is Moscow’s most capable anti-aircraft weapon and ,according to Kremlin announcements, the world’s best. The mobile system, typically consisting of a command unit, a radar and four launchers is advertised to be able to detect and destroy aircraft out to a range of 400 kilometers (250 miles), and ballistic missiles and drones at a smaller distance.
Aktürk’s laconic statement came in the wake of a Sept. 19 Truth Social announcement by US President Donald Trump that he would meet soon with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to discuss sales of US-made combat aircraft, including the advanced F-35 fighter, to Türkiye.
Türkiye, a NATO member, purchased two Russian S-400 air systems in 2017 at a reported cost of $2.5 billion and took delivery on them in 2019. According to Turkish media reports, the Turkish military never fielded its S-400s, which are not compatible with NATO combat aircraft or air defense systems.
Washington sanctioned Ankara for acquiring the Russian weaponry by blocking Türkiye from purchasing advanced US-made F-35 fighter jets, and kicking Turkish aerospace industry manufacturers out of the supply chain producing F-35 components. The first Trump administration made the sanctions effective in December 2020.
Trump’s Truth Social post signaled a possible 180-degree reversal of that position, saying in part: “We are working on many Trade and Military Deals with the President (Erdoğan), including the large-scale purchase of Boeing aircraft, a major F-16 Deal, and a continuation of the F-35 talks, which we expect to conclude positively. President Erdoğan and I have always had a good relationship.”
The US in 2020 determined Türkiye’s S-400 purchase violated Section 231 of the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA). The law passed by a Trump-loyal, Republican-controlled Congress in 2017 mandates penalties to countries cooperating with the US militarily and purchasing Russian weaponry at the same time. Erdoğan justified the S-400 purchase on grounds it was better than US systems.
Trump’s prediction that he and Erdogan are likely to restart major US arms deliveries to Türkiye implies, per the language of CAATSA regulations, that Ankara must rid itself of S-400 systems, in order for future weapons sales to be in accordance with US law.
Moscow – now fighting a major war and in critical need of air defense systems – is the most likely new owner for the S-400 systems possessed by Türkiye, should they actually be resold, most reports in Turkish, Russian and Ukrainian media have said.
Russia’s official TASS news agency in early September reported “talks are in progress,” the weapons to be turned over to Moscow, repeating a report originally published by Türkiye’s mainstream Nefes newspaper.
Ukraine’s authoritative Defense Express in a Sept. 13 article said the Kremlin badly wants to acquire the systems, but predicted the Erdoğan administration would try to charge substantially more than $2.5 billion for Türkiye to sell the missiles back.
Most Turkish publications covering the S-400 story likewise reported that Russia was interested in re-acquiring the weapon and that Erdogan had not yet approved the transfer. A minority of Turkish media reported Ukraine not Russia was the likely buyer, the fundamentalist Yenit Akit telling readers acquisition of the systems was a top Kyiv priority.
Most major Ukrainian media on Monday was covering Trump’s comments about Erdogan and potential F-35s, and reporting a sale of S-400 systems back to Russia was a possible condition of the US-Türkiye deal.
Ukrainian Army General Staff’s Telegram channel suggested that Russia could get its missiles back without even paying for them, in a Monday post, noting: “Türkiye is positively disposed toward this option (an S-400 transfer), after all it doesn’t use the systems because of US sanctions banning the delivery of F-35s that Ankara wants. But there are serious doubts these systems (S-400) will be sold, and not used by the enemy in its war against Ukraine”
Gennady Khazan, President of Ukraine’s Aviation Association of Pilots and Aircraft Owners (AOPA Ukraine) in Friday comments to the Freedom television channel said successful Ukrainian strikes and blown up S-400 systems are driving Moscow’s desire to buy its own missiles back from Ankara.
“Why do they [Russia] need a lot of these complexes? Because the Armed Forces of Ukraine have inflicted a number of serious blows on elements of the air defense systems,” Khazan said. “The fact is that the Armed Forces of Ukraine are systematically canceling out the enemy’s air defenses.”
Ukrainian forces have attacked Russian S-400 systems as a top priority target since Russia’s February 2022 invasion and have scored multiple successes. Ukraine has probably hit and damaged S-400 systems operated by Russia at least 10 times in the past 12 months, open sources reviewed by Kyiv Post show.
The most successful strike likely occurred on April 17, 2024 when a salvo of US-made ATACMS missiles and UK-French Storm Shadow missiles fired by Ukrainian forces destroyed or damaged three S-400 launchers and a radar system deployed near the city Dzhankoi, in the Russian-occupied Crimea peninsula.
Ukrainian strike planners have favored the US-made ATACMS surface-to-surface missiles for attacks against the Russian system, because of its high-speed, long-range, precision-guidance and powerful warhead armed with cluster munitions designed to damage unarmored targets such as an S-400.
The US ended ATACMS deliveries to Ukraine in February 2025. The Trump administration at the time said delivery of American arms to Ukraine undermines White House-led peace efforts. France and Britain have curtailed most Storm Shadow/SCALP cruise missiles to Ukraine because of reportedly dangerously low stocks for their own armies.
Ukrainian arms manufacturers starting in 2023 launched development of long-range drones capable of attacking S-400 missile batteries and other targets deep behind Russian lines. The homemade kamikaze aircraft are slower and easier to intercept than an ATACMS or Storm Shadow/SCALP missiles, but are subject neither to US political strings nor Franco-British production limits.
The most recent possible Ukrainian attack against a Russian S-400 system probably took place on Sept. 15-16, in Russia’s Saratov region. Open source satellite imagery prior to the raids showed an S-400 radar probably positioned to protect the area from encroaching aircraft, and following the raids NASA satellite imagery showed major fires at the radar’s location.