"To the best of our knowledge, U.S.-made F-16s were not involved in the exercise," Parker said. She referred a caller to the Turkish government for details of the maneuvers. ...
Another Pentagon official, who asked not to be identified, said indications were that the Turkish air force flew F-4 Phantom fighters, used extensively by the United States during the Vietnam War, while China flew Russian-built SU-27s.
Still, this is not a good sign for the long run. Is this really how Turkey wants to go? We seriously need to reconsider selling F-35s to Turkey.
Of course, I may be selling the Turks short:
"It seems the Turks opted to react to overtures from the Chinese which, with appropriate technological restrictions, could prove useful in assessing Chinese air capabilities," Clad said.
It is true we can learn from the exercise, too. Still, we need to watch Turkey's "omni-directional" policies to make sure they don't stray too far from the North Atlantic direction.
UPDATE: NATO is way more worried about what China learns than hopeful of gaining knowledge:
NATOis not happy with Turkey hosting Chinese Su-27s and MiG-29s last month, for joint air exercises. NATO, especially the U.S., felt that this event allowed China to familiarize themselves with NATO air tactics and operations.
Yeah, I guess this fits in with my general view of US-China military exchanges--they only give the Chinese an opportunity to learn how to defeat us--or just to believe they have.
