Turkey’s Defense Agenda: Black Sea Drone Incident and S-400 Talks

Turkey has been in the news this week for two important defence stories. First, on December 16, the Turkish defence ministry said its military shot down an uncontrolled drone near the Black Sea. The drone was flying close to Turkey’s airspace, and the Turkish military decided it could be dangerous. So, F-16 fighter jets were sent to find it, and the aircraft destroyed the drone in a safe area far from people and houses. The defence ministry did not say where the drone came from or who made it. This event happened soon after Turkish officials warned that the situation in the Black Sea could get worse because of the war between Russia and Ukraine. Turkey has been watching the region carefully to protect its airspace and keep people safe.

The second story is about Turkey’s talks with the United States. Turkey and the U.S. are discussing defence issues, especially about the Russian S-400 air defence systems that Turkey bought years ago. These missiles caused problems between Turkey and the U.S. because Washington said they are not good for NATO and blocked Turkey from joining the U.S. F-35 fighter jet programme. In the recent talks, Turkey said nothing has changed about its S-400 systems yet. The Turkish defence ministry said there has been no new decision to remove or change the systems. The two countries are still talking about how to lift U.S. sanctions and solve the issues about the F-35 jets. Turkey hopes that good discussion will help improve relations with the United States.

These two events show that Turkey is working to protect its airspace and also trying to solve important defence problems with its allies.


References

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/turkey-says-it-downs-uncontrolled-drone-over-black-sea-2025-12-16/

https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/turkey-says-no-change-russian-s-400s-amid-us-talks-f-35s-2025-12-12/