Turkey Acquires Stealth Jet’s “Development Firm”
In Yet Another Boost For Turkish Aviation!
"Once banished from the F-35 program and left with a glaring capability gap, Turkey has turned around its destiny by dramatically expanding its aerospace industry."
"At the dawn of the 21st century, Turkey was the world’s third-biggest arms importer. However, its reliance on foreign military imports has plummeted drastically, from around 80% in 2004 to less than 20% today. On the contrary, Turkey has emerged as a defense exporter, with its cutting-edge arms being used on many battlefields with a high degree of operational success."
"Ankara has firmly established itself as a credible aerospace power."
"Nevertheless, Turkey’s concerted efforts at boosting indigenization and Research & Development in Aerospace have certainly paid off. As previously noted by veteran journalist Prakash Nanda in an article for EurAsian Times, “The rapid development of Turkey’s defense industries and the increasing global acceptance of their products have resulted in many collateral benefits, such as the consolidation of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s regime without any fear of a military challenge, Ankara pursuing a militarized foreign policy in its neighborhood, and the country managing flexible geopolitical alliances.”
"Turkey’s Meteoric Rise As An Aerospace Power
The biggest milestone that Turkey has achieved in recent times is indigenously developing its own fifth-generation stealth aircraft—KAAN."
"The twin-engine multirole/air superiority fighter, developed by Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI), made its first flight in February and is expected to enter service in the early 2030s, catapulting Turkey into a small clique of countries that have indigenously developed a fifth-generation fighter."
"The aircraft is meant to replace the Turkish F-16s and is also planned for exports. In fact, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan have reportedly expressed interest in acquiring the aircraft with more potential customers to line up in the future."
"Even if the KAAN does not outmatch the capabilities of the American F-35 Lightning II, it does provide a cheap alternative to countries that are unlikely to get the F-35 from the United States due to its stringent export-related conditions."
"The TB-2, for one, has been hailed as a success story. The drone has been sold to about two dozen countries (most recently to Kenya, as per reports on social media on December 31) and has shown exceptional combat success in several battle zones, including in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict fought in 2020 between Armenia and Azerbaijan, where it tilted the battle in the latter’s favor."
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