ANKARA (AA): The U.S. has submitted a proposal for the sale of $3.5 billionPatriot air and missile defense systems to Turkey, Turkish officials saidon Tuesday.

Representatives of Turkey’s foreign and defense ministries and the DefenseIndustry Presidency met with a visiting U.S. delegation in the capitalAnkara, said the officials, who asked not to be named due to restrictionson speaking to the media.

In the meeting, the U.S. presented its proposal to Turkey for the sale of aPatriot missile system.

In December, the U.S. State Department approved a possible sale of Patriotair and missile defense systems to Turkey for an estimated $3.5 billion.

According to the Defense Department’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency,the State Department approved the sale of 80 Patriot MIM-104E GuidanceEnhanced Missiles (GEM-T) missiles, 60 PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement(MSE) missiles, and associated equipment.

The sale includes radar sets, engagement control stations, launchingstations, communications equipment, tools and test equipment, range andtest programs, and support equipment.

Turkey had been long trying to purchase the air defense system from theU.S. After finding no success, in 2017 Ankara decided to buy Russian S-400air defense systems.