The new facilities established by the Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) with huge investments will primarily serve the needs of the National Combat Aircraft (MMU) project while also contributing to the country's economy through exports, the company head said Wednesday.
Temel Kotil commented on the investments, such as the National Combat Aircraft Engineering Center, the Composite Production Building, the Space Systems Engineering Center and the Factory Level Component Maintenance and Repair Control Center, which TAI recently opened, in an interview with Anadolu Agency (AA).
Kotil said that for an aircraft to be a national combat aircraft, it must be completely domestic, as it doesn't make sense to get parts of it from other countries like the landing gear or an engine. If some parts of it are not produced domestically, it wouldn’t be a "national combatant" but a product manufactured under license, he said.
"That's why we have to make everything of the National Combat Aircraft domestically," said Kotil.
The TF-X MMU will be unveiled for the first time on March 18, 2023, and will make its maiden flight in 2026.
It is a fifth-generation jet with similar features to Lockheed Martin's F-35 Lightning II. The domestically built aircraft is being developed to replace the Turkish air force's F-16 fighters as they are gradually phased out until the 2030s.
Stating that they also built a wind tunnel for the project, Kotil noted that they currently need to do a lot of tests in the wind tunnel.
"The landing gear and engine of the plane will be made in Turkey. Each plane needs to be tested before flying whether the radar can see it or not. We must establish this facility," he said, saying that since the aircraft needs a lot of material and parts to be produced domestically, the investment into the project is a lot higher.
Kotil went on to say that it would be a pity if such extensive investments were limited to the MMU and that they aim to benefit from the facilities in different axes and projects.
Reiterating that they established a very large facility of 95,000 square meters (1.02 million square feet) as the Composite Building, Kotil said this facility will also allow them to work for plane makers such as Boeing and Airbus.
Emphasizing that as a company, they are making technology investments in the country, Kotil said: "If you are doing something big, it has to be domestic and national."
To strengthen its claim in the aviation industry, TAI officially launched several facilities, including the much-anticipated MMU’s Engineering Center and the Composite Production Building in a ceremony held on Jan. 6.
The MMU Engineering Center was established with an investment of TL 220 million (about $16.3 million). It is set to employ some 2,300 people where the works on the national combat jet, dubbed "Turkey’s survival project," will be maintained.
Equipped with state-of-the-art technologies, the engineers will be able to carry out all their activities at the center without an external dependence.