On November 8, Turkey signed a letter of intent with France and Italy in Brussels to strengthen cooperation on air and missile defense projects. The France-Italy EUROSAM consortium, which produces the SAMP-T missile defense system, are set to meet with Turkish representatives to discuss the common defensive needs of each country. Although Turkey has seemingly chosen to procure Russia’s S-400 Triumf air and missile defense system, U.S. officials hope this cooperation among NATO allies serves to strengthen the alliance.

NATO Secretary Jens Stoltenberg commented on the letter saying, “[T]his kind of cooperation is the best way also to make sure that we have the capabilities different nations need and is also a good way to make sure that when we have new capabilities they can be fully integrated into NATO air defense systems. For NATO, it’s extremely important to have interoperability, and of course having three NATO allies working together that is an example of how we really develop interoperability, how nations can work together.”