The developer of Türkiye’s homegrown fighter jet Kaan has been in long talks with several countries regarding the fifth-generation warplane, its CEO said Tuesday, days after the company announced a major deal to export the aircraft to Indonesia.
"We hope to reach the stage where we can announce them in the upcoming period," Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) CEO Mehmet Demiroğlu said on the sidelines of the Paris Air Show, the world's biggest aviation trade fair.
Last Wednesday, TAI signed an agreement to sell as many as 48 Kaan jets to Indonesia, a deal that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan called “historic” and that will make the Southeast Asian nation the first buyer of the advanced aircraft.
The contract is valued at about $10 billion, according to the Turkish media, and includes the production and delivery over a 10-year period, as well as a technology transfer to Indonesia.
Kaan is a fifth-generation warplane that Türkiye has worked on for almost a decade. The jet was first publicly unveiled in 2023 before it performed its maiden test flight in early 2024. Its serial production is expected to begin in 2028.
At the Paris Air Show, TAI is exhibiting its top platforms, including the advanced jet trainer and light attack aircraft, Hürjet, training aircraft, Hürkuş, general-purpose helicopter Gökbey, and the Aksungur unmanned aerial vehicle.
Demiroğlu stressed what he said was a strong interest in TAI’s portfolio.
"We define ourselves as the supermarket of aviation in Türkiye because we produce everything, from helicopters to unmanned aerial vehicles, fifth-generation fighter jets, training aircraft like Hürjet and Hürkuş, satellites, and even components for companies like Airbus and Boeing. So, we can confidently say we have it all,” he noted.
"Some are more interested in helicopters, others in unmanned vehicles, and some in Hürkuş or Hürjet."
TAI expects to see significant interest in Kaan from other nations as well, Demiroğlu said.
Erdoğan visited Indonesia in February as part of his Asia tour, before his Indonesian counterpart Prabowo Subianto arrived in Ankara in April. During the visit, Subianto expressed his country's intention to join Türkiye's homegrown fighter jet project.
The deal the sides agreed on "is not a memorandum of understanding; it goes beyond that," Demiroğlu said. "It was a framework agreement that defined what it is, how many there will be, and how it will be implemented."
He stated that the countries are working intensively on the details of the preliminary agreement. "We hope to sign the final contract in the near future – within a few months," he added.
The agreement has had a significant impact both in Türkiye and globally, according to Demiroğlu, who noted that Kaan has attracted considerable interest.
"We had already been in discussions with certain countries (regarding Kaan). They have become even more enthusiastic. Hopefully, we expect significant interest from other nations as well. We will all see together," the CEO said.
NATO member Türkiye launched the project to produce a national combat aircraft in 2016. Kaan is sought to replace the Air Forces Command's aging F-16 fleet, which is planned to be phased out starting in the 2030s.
The jet will initially be powered by two General Electric F-110 engines, which are also used on fourth-generation Lockheed Martin F-16 jets.
Türkiye aims to use domestically produced engines on the aircraft in serial production.
Kaan will be capable of air-to-air combat with new-generation weapons and precision strikes from internal weapon bays at supersonic speed. It will also provide increased combat power with artificial intelligence and neural network support.
Türkiye's defense sector accounts for a significant share of the country's export revenues. In 2024, the industry's export reached a record $7.1 billion, an increase of $1.6 billion compared with 2023.
The deal on Kaan follows TAI's agreement a month ago that is expected to pave the way for the export of Hürjet to Spain, along with a joint production of some of its subsystems.
"Spain's selection of our Hürjet created a significant impact both in Europe and globally ... Spain has become the second NATO country to choose Hürjet. I believe more will follow," Demiroğlu said.
Hürjet has a strong potential to become NATO's training aircraft, if not the only one, then certainly one of the top two contenders, according to the CEO.
Once deliveries begin, Demiroğlu suggested that other countries would seriously consider purchasing the jet trainer.
The Hürjet project was initially kicked off in 2017. The first domestically developed jet trainer aircraft features a single-engine, tandem cockpit and modern avionics suite.
It was initiated to replace the T-38 aircraft used for advanced jet training and the F-5 jet used in aerobatic displays within the Turkish Air Force inventory.
Hürjet is 13.6 meters long with a wingspan of 9.5 meters. Its maximum altitude is said to be 45,000 feet, and the jet features a 3,400-kilogram (7,500-pound) payload capacity and a maximum speed of Mach 1.4.
Many European nations have recently announced plans for major increases in defense spending. The EU itself, driven by fears of a Russian attack and doubts about U.S. security commitments, has approved creating a 150 billion euro ($170 billion) EU arms fund to boost the defense industry, labeled the SAFE scheme.
But it mandates that 65% of projects are funded by firms in the bloc, the broader European Economic Area or Ukraine.
Türkiye has said it will press its European allies to relax rules that currently mandate most of those funds be spent within the EU.
Demiroğlu emphasized that Türkiye is well-prepared for this shift.
"We meet our own needs while also possessing the infrastructure and product range to support our allies and partner nations," he noted.
"Türkiye is one of the candidate countries and holds a significant advantage due to its presence in various parts of the European Union (EU)."
Demiroğlu also highlighted previous collaborations with European firms, including Airbus and the helicopter division of the Italian giant Leonardo, expressing confidence that Türkiye can provide the necessary platforms to meet Europe's defense requirements.
