6th Generation Fighter Jet That Surprises US, Eliciting Pride from Erdogan-History was made as a homemade fifth-generation fighter jet took to the skies for the first time. The fighter jet, named KAAN, forms part of Ankara’s initiatives to enhance its Air Force capabilities and reduce reliance on foreign entities.
KAAN was airborne early Wednesday morning and briefly traversed the skies before returning to the airbase located north of Ankara. The video capturing this momentous occasion was shared by the developer, Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI). President Recep Tayyip Erdogan remarked that the flight signified Turkey’s crossing of another “critical threshold.”
One of the proudest days for Türkiye’s defense industry was experienced. “Our domestically produced fighter aircraft, KAAN, successfully completed its inaugural flight today,” Erdogan stated on Wednesday, as reported by Daily Sabah on Thursday (22/2/2024). “Another critical threshold has been surpassed by Türkiye in the production of fifth-generation fighter jets,” he emphasized.
6th Generation Fighter Jet
Erdogan also noted that despite cynical comparisons of its components to radiators and attempts at project sabotage, the domestically crafted fighter plane continues to take flight. In 2016, Turkey, a NATO member, initiated the TF-X project aimed at developing a national fighter jet. In 2017, TAI entered into a $125 million agreement with Britain’s BAE Systems to advance the next-generation fighter jet.
TAI’s chief, Temel Kotil, disclosed that KAAN remained airborne for 13 minutes, reaching a speed of 230 knots at an altitude of 8,000 feet. “Turkish steel wings in the sky!” exclaimed Minister of Industry and Technology Mehmet Fatih Kacır. Publicly revealed last year, the fighter jet represents Turkey’s most ambitious project thus far. It underwent its debut on the runway and successfully completed its initial taxiing test after engine ignition for the first time in mid-March last year.
The aim is, for KAAN to supplant the aging F-16 fleet within the Air Force Command’s inventory, with plans for phase-out beginning in the 2030s. Initially, the new fighter jet will be equipped with two General Electric F-110 engines, also utilized in fourth-generation Lockheed Martin F-16 jets. Gorgun revealed that Turkey aims to incorporate domestically produced engines, which are nearing completion, into KAAN during serial production, slated to commence in 2028.
