S-400 air defense missiles to be jointly produced by Russia and Turkey.

The delivery of the second batch of the Russian S-400 missile defense systems to Turkey may be delayed beyond 2020, the planned timeline, due to talks on technology sharing and joint production, the head of the country’s Defense Industry Directorate said on Nov. 4, reported by Hürriyet Daily News.

S-400 air defense missile system (Picture source: Army Recognition)

Turkey’s procurement of the first batch of S-400 system was for a finished product, but Ankara wants the second system as co-production and with transfer technology, Demir told NTV private broadcaster. “Common production concepts can play the calendar. We have some sensitivities that some productions have to be done here. Technical studies are in progress,” he stated.

Turkey signed a contract with Russia in April 2017 to procure the S-400 systems. Turkey on July 12 received the first shipment of the Russian S-400 air defense systems. Since then, cargo flights from Russia have been arriving on Mürted Air Base in the capital Ankara. The delivery of the first systems was completed between July 12 and July 25. The total deployment would finalize around April 2020, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had earlier said.