TAI: Turkey’s might in the fight against terrorism

Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI)’s successes in contributing to Turkey’s defense sector made it a natural target for terrorists who suffered losses in counter-terrorism operations. Four of the five people killed by PKK terrorists in the capital Ankara on Wednesday in an attack on TAI headquarters were employees of the company behind many major projects.

These projects include the National Combat Aircraft KAAN, which helped position the country among the few nations that are capable of producing fifth-generation combat aircraft.

TAI was established in 1973 and carries out the design, production and modernization of the aircraft that Türkiye needs, along with export activities. Air platforms produced under the coordination of the company, such as the T129 ATAK tactical attack and reconnaissance helicopter, the T70 general-purpose helicopter and the ANKA and Aksungur unmanned aerial vehicles, serve the security forces .

Products such as the Hürkuş Basic Trainer Aircraft, HURJET Trainer and Light Attack Aircraft and Gökbey General Purpose Helicopter are eagerly waiting to enter the inventory, while tests for the ANKA III unmanned combat aircraft are in full swing.

Hürjet completed its first supersonic flight on Monday. With a single engine, tandem cockpit and modern avionics suite, the Hürjet is expected to play a critical role in the Turkish Air Force Command’s inventory, leveraging its superior performance characteristics. TAI initiated the project in August 2017, with a mock-up on display at the Farnborough International Air Show 2018. The Hürjet project was undertaken to replace the Turkish military’s T-38 aircraft used in training and aircraft F-5 used in aerobatic team flights and to meet the needs of potential international customers. The aircraft completed its maiden flight in April last year. Hürjet is 13.4 meters (43 feet) long, with a wingspan of 9.5 meters and a height of 5.1 meters. The advanced jet’s maximum altitude is set at 45,000 feet (13.7 kilometers), along with its payload of 2,721 kilograms (6,000 pounds) and a top speed of Mach 1.4. Recent media reports indicated Spain’s interest in Hürjet, noting that advanced talks had begun for a possible aircraft exchange. The aircraft was also unveiled at the Egypt International Airshow last month.

One of the most important projects is KAAN, which is currently under construction and represents an important milestone in the history of Turkish aviation. With the KAAN project, the country is taking an important step towards becoming one of the few countries capable of designing and producing fighter jets. KAAN will place Türkiye among the few in the world that can produce fifth-generation aircraft. The project aims to strengthen Turkey’s independence in the defense industry and reduce dependence on foreign countries. KAAN is expected to enter the Turkish Air Force inventory in 2028. KAAN completed its second flight last May. The warplane made its runway debut and completed its first taxi test after firing its engines for the first time in mid-March last year. It seeks to replace the Air Force Command’s aging F-16 fleet, which will be phased out beginning in the 2030s. KAAN will initially be powered by two General Electric F-110 engines, which are also used in aircraft Fourth generation Lockheed Martin F-16.

Türkiye aims to use domestically produced engines on the jet in serial production, which is expected to start in 2028. The aircraft will be capable of air-to-air combat with next-generation weapons and precision strikes from bays weapons internals at supersonic speed. and will also provide greater combat power with artificial intelligence and neural network support.

Aksungur, a medium-altitude, long-endurance unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV), is another of TAI’s achievements. Having begun her first mission in the second quarter of 2021, Aksungur became part of the Turkish Naval Forces Command in October of that year. While the number of Aksungur model UCAVs in the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) has increased, their exports are also increasing. It has shipped to three countries and is in heavy negotiations with several others. The Aksungur reached its final form with the integration of the TEI-PD170 turbodiesel aviation engine developed by the Turkish joint venture TAI Engine Industry (TEI). During the performance test, the UCAV reached 41 hours with the indigenous engine inside, setting a flight record.

TAI has also achieved remarkable success worldwide. More recently, it modernized the Su-25 aircraft in Azerbaijan’s inventory and delivered them to that country. The company was founded by the government at a time of great dependence on imports for defense needs of the Ministry of Industry and Technology. It underwent a corporate change in 1984 after Turkey decided to prioritize F-16 fighter jets for its Air Force. TAI became that year a US-Turkey joint investment company for aircraft production, although the condition was that the US partnership would be limited to 25 years. In 2005, before this period ended, Turkish stakeholders bought all the company’s foreign shares and TAI and TUSAŞ (as the company is known in Turkish), two separate entities, became one corporate entity: TUSAŞ. In the following decade, it became a technological center for the development of aviation systems, their modernization, production and integration. TAI is divided into six groups for production and other services, including aviation structure group, aircraft group, helicopter group, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) system group, the space systems group, the national combat aircraft group (NCA) and the engineering group.

The company issued a statement on its website Thursday, highlighting its “determination” despite the attack. “We are members of a nation that overcomes any challenge. We will overcome this attack and continue to work for the future of our country without interruption,” the statement said. “This attack targeted not only our company, but also our defense industry and our nation. We send our condolences to the families of our co-workers and to a citizen who died in the attack. We will continue to contribute to the national defense industry by keeping its memories alive,” the company said.

The Sabah Daily Gazette

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