According to Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, the S-400 system purchased from Russia is vastly superior to the Patriot air defense system built by the US and this is why Turkey has chosen the former.

The Turkish FM explained that for about a decade Turkey attempted to buy air defense systems, including the MIM-104 Patriot, from the US, however the so-called high-end interceptor missile system simply “didn’t work” when put through tests.

Given that the Patriot failed to meet the Turkish military’s air defense requirements, Turkey then pursued options in other countries.

Cavusoglu claims that by the time Turkey got around to organizing a contract with Russia for the purchase of S-400 the military’s need for a modern highly-effective air defense system was “urgent”.

“[The] S-400 deal is done”, Cavusoglu reaffirmed. “Russia gave us the best deal and [now it] is the done deal and in the future let’s see, who is going to make the best proposal”.

According to sources, the Turkish military will acquire four battalion-sized units of S-400s (technically as many as 32 individual launchers, each with four ready-to-fire missiles) from Russia, worth 2.5 billion dollars.

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