The first shipment of the Russian-made S-400 air defense missile system has landed in Ankara, in a move that sets up a potential showdown between Turkey and the United States.
The equipment arrived at the Murted Air Base on Friday, according to the Turkish Defense Ministry.
Another plane is due to fly to Turkey with a second batch of equipment in the near future, a military-diplomatic source told Russia’s state-run TASS news agency. That source added that a third delivery, carrying over “120 anti-aircraft missiles of various types” will be delivered “tentatively at the end of the summer, by sea.”
TASS also quoted the source saying that Turkish S-400 operators will travel to Russia for training in July and August. About 20 Turkish servicemen underwent training at a Russian training center in May and June, according to the source.