As we reported, Türkiye's 5th generation KAAN fighter jet made its first flight yesterday. Although this flight test was previously planned for the end of December, it has been postponed many times, and it is already planned to receive the first combat aircraft of the Turkish army in 2028. It should be noted here that these planes were produced in cooperation with Pakistan.
What does the production of these warplanes promise for Turkey and its allies within the framework of this cooperation?
In his statement to Ednews, Pakistani expert, Dr. Mehmood Ul Hassan Khan, Executive Director of The Center for South & International Studies (CSAIS) emphasized the importance of this event for the alliance of Azerbaijan, Turkey, and Pakistan:
"It is pertinent to mention here that the project to manufacture KAAN commenced eight years ago. It seems that a miracle in aerospace domain has been successfully achieved. With the first test flight of the fifth generation fighter jet, the Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) has achieved a great milestone which is indeed a giant step towards defense self-reliance. Kaan, will upgrade Türkiye's air force and replace its aging F-16 fleet in the days to come. Mass production of the Khann is envisaged as of 2028. KAAN has been powered by an F110 engine, developed by General Electric before eventually being replaced with a domestically built power unit manufactured by TUSAŞ Engine Industries (TEI). Critical analysis reveals that developing a fifth-generation fighter aircraft is always a complex and costly mega-project that requires a wide range of expertise and resources. Collaborating with Pakistan and Azerbaijan allows Türkiye to pool resources and technological expertise from the participating nations and distribute the financial burden, resulting in a more advanced and capable aircraft. Hopefully, the production of Kaan will further strengthen the aerospace capacity of these three brotherly countries and will further consolidate their aerospace capacity in the days to come.
A joint venture between Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) and GE Aerospace, TEI is engaged in developing and producing engines for both aircraft and missiles.
In 2017 Pakistan started working on preliminary designs of a fifth-generation fighter under ‘Project Azm’. Pakistan’s National University of Science and Technology (NUST), Foundation for Advancement of Science and Technology (FAST), Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology (GIK), NED University, are working on the domestic production of many fighter jets.
TAI has even signed an MOU with NUST and has already recruited a number of engineers from Pakistan. Besides, KAAN’s second manufacturing line at PAC Kamra could benefit from the well-trained manpower and extensive facilities at that organization. It is predicted that KAAN is not just going to be a high-performance fifth-generation fighter but a fighting system with accompanying next-generation weapons, and sensors including an unmanned combat wingman Kizilelma a Baykar product. Baykar, a fabled aerospace and drone powerhouse, is already partnering with Pakistan for research and development on several projects and its game-changing TB2 and Akinci UCAVs have been recently inducted in PAF with indigenous weapons’ integration being carried out.
Baykar as well as Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI), the manufacturer of KAAN and Hurjet, have both established their offices at the PAF National Aerospace Science and Technology Park (NASTAP).
The recently inaugurated NASTP and TAI are aiming to develop and incubate aviation-related technologies including aircraft design, radar technology, command and control, artificial intelligence and data analytics, space technologies, communication and networking, electronic warfare, cyber technologies, etc.
