Seems like Swedish accession is top priority for the upcoming NATO summit in Vilnius, next week.
With Turkey being the largest hurdle, any indication what Turkey is demanding (beyond containing Kurdish separatist activities in Europe)?
One element will surely be Turkish access to key technologies and the rights to modify defense equipment sources from alliance nations, such as the F-16s. While the T-FX will probably take many years to be in enough numbers to replace the F-16s, and it seems the Turks won’t be allowed back into the F-35 program, the Turks need to be able to update their F-16s (with indigenous radars, avionics and munitions) and keep them flight worthy for at least another 15 years.
@Bilal Khan (Quwa)
I hope the PAF has been lobbying the Turks to add a “rider” to their demands, that allows Turks to
upgrade the PAF’s F-16 fleet (with GaN radars, modern EW and Avionics, and munitions) as well as
allow Pakistan to acquire Turkish F-16s once the TuAF starts to retire them, and allow the PAF to grow the fleet to desired operational numbers. For the PAF, it would also be the best and most cost effective way to bridge to the T-FX.
I Really hope this is the top priority of the PAF and Foreign office, this weekend, ahead of the NATO summit in Lithuania. For the PAF, it will allow it to maintain a cutting edge capability at a reasonable financial and political price with a predictable roadmap, allowing them to retire the Mirages and F-7s as soon as possible.
Basically getting back to the priorities the nation was trying to get accomplished before the political problems of the last 2 years.