Turkey’s ambitious program for its own fifth-generation fighter jet could receive an extremely powerful boost with the involvement of Pakistan, after a contract was already signed with Azerbaijan, Breaking Defense reports.
The KAAN fighter jet, which Ankara hopes will replace the F-16, will fly for the first time in the coming months.
Context: KAAN was “born” out of Turkey’s exclusion from the F-35 fighter program. It came after Ankara bought Russian S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems and drew the ire of Washington.
The development otherwise started already in 2016. The new plane reaches a speed of Mach 1.8, thanks to its two engines. Its design is difficult to detect by radars, and all armaments are stored internally. KAAN can engage air and ground targets, with advanced radar combined with various artificial intelligence computer systems to detect and track them.
KAAN: With this aircraft, Turkey is replacing the F-16
The fifth-generation fighter has been in development for 7 years
Not only the aircraft, but also all the ground infrastructure needed for its operation is locally produced – Turkey has received serious American know-how for this type of systems since the Cold War.
The first prototype was shown in January 2023, and a test run of the engines was made in February. The first flight is expected this year.
Details: A week ago it became clear that Azerbaijan is joining the KAAN program with funding and possible partnership. A few days ago, however, the Deputy Minister of Defense of our southern neighbor Chelal Sami Tufekci commented that “soon we will discuss with our Pakistani colleagues their inclusion in our program for a national jet fighter KAAN”.
There is no official confirmation from Islamabad at the moment, but according to experts, such a move is logical. The country, which is also a nuclear power, has its own aviation industry that produces relatively advanced combat aircraft such as the JF-17 fighter jet, as well as combat drones.
The first Turkish unmanned fighter jet took to the battlefield for a test
It will move faster than an Airbus 320 passenger plane
Turkish aviation expert Cem Dogut commented to Breaking Defense that Turkey has particularly close relations with Azerbaijan and Pakistan – they are perceived as brotherly nations and this facilitates cooperation.
On the other hand: Despite Recep Erdogan’s grand ambitions, according to most experts, the KAAN is nearly a decade away from actually being armed. The combat aircraft is expected to look very different from the prototype that is preparing for its first flight – its design is practically not yet finalized, so in 2023 we will see in the sky more of a technology demonstrator than ready for fighting machine.
It is more realistic that KAAN will be accepted into service around 2030, and after an expenditure of about 14 billion dollars.
The use of Western technology with Pakistan’s participation in the project could prove problematic – the country has a long-standing partnership with China, and this could become a problem for some manufacturers.
Turkey abandons the purchase of American F-16 fighter jets?
The country is also discussing other options for a combat aircraft, because of the high price
Also, the US may not be giving F-35s to Turkey, but the latest F-16 variants like the Viper remain relevant. They combine the proven platform with avionics and weaponry close to or similar to those of next-generation fighters – at a significantly more affordable cost. This means that a large percentage of the tasks for which the Turkish fighter is ready can be entrusted to the American machine, which, moreover, is also produced in our southern neighbor.
2023-08-08 07:30:58
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