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ANKARA, Turkey (AP) - Turkey's military has taken delivery of its first Boeing-made surveillance aircraft, part of a $1.5 billion project to modernize its air force.
The first of four so-called AWACs _ airborne early warning and control aircraft _ was brought into the Turkish Air Force in a ceremony in the city of Konya on Friday.
Two of the aircraft are scheduled to be delivered later this year and the fourth is expected to be delivered in 2015.
Turkey, a NATO member that shares a 910-kilometer border with conflict-ridden Syria, ordered the planes in 2003. The delivery was initially scheduled for 2008 and Turkish officials have said Turkey would seek compensation for the delay.
Turkey becomes the third country after Australia and South Korea to have the aircraft.
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