Another milestone for Turkey that will allow the country to strengthen its Air Force and limit foreign dependence: this is how the Turkish press interprets the success of the 2nd flight of the fifth generation multi-role fighter "Kaan" aircraft, developed by the national industry Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI). The airplane is in fact intended to replace the now obsolete fleet of fourth generation Lockheed Martin F-16s, whose elimination is expected to begin in 2030.

According to an official statement from the SBB, the Turkish defense industry, the fighter, after its maiden flight last February (see AVIONEWS), took off at 08:46am local time for a flight that lasted 14 minutes, reaching an altitude of 10,000 feet at speed of 230 knots. The TF-X "Kaan" is presented as "the most ambitious Turkish project to date": the plane made its debut on the runway, completing the first tests with the ignition of the engines in March 2023. It will be initially powered by two F-110-GE-129 engines by General Electric (the same ones that propel the F-16s of the Turkish Air Forces Command), only to be replaced in series production with unspecified domestically manufactured engines.

The Stealth fighter project was launched in 2016. For its development, TAI signed a four-year mutual collaboration agreement with Bae Systems worth 139 million dollars. As part of the agreement, British industry committed to offering the engineering consultancy services and related support required for the project. The contract included the preliminary design phase and other technological development activities. The program received a strong boost when the United States, in July 2019, excluded Turkey from the F-35 program after it had purchased the S-400 air defense system from Russia (see AVIONEWS).

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