Turkey Has Its Own High-Tech Fighter Jet in the Works
Ankara says the fifth generation fighter, called the TF-X, will be operational in just nine years.
By
Kyle Mizokami
Jun 19, 2019
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Modern fighter jets are some of the most complex machines imaginable, yet one country that has never built one before, Turkey, is going to try its hand. At the Paris Air Show this week, the country is showing off a full-size replica of its future fighter while the country nears expulsion from the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program.
The fighter, known as
TF-X (Turkey, Fighter Experimental) is currently under development by Turkish Aerospace Industries. According to a promotional video, the jet will be 60 feet long by 39 feet wide. It will have a
maximum speed of Mach 2 while running on two engines producing a combined 40,000 pounds of thrust. It will also have a maximum takeoff weight of 60,000 pounds, a maximum altitude of 55,000 feet, and a combat radius of 600 nautical miles (690 miles). The video also shows off clean, stealthy lines and internal weapons bays.
TF-X is generally comparable to the American
F/A-18E Super Hornet, which is 60 feet long and has a wingspan of 44 feet. The Super Hornet is powered by two F414 afterburning turbofan engines generating a combined 44,000 feet of thrust, has a top speed of Mach 1.8 and a maximum takeoff weight of 66,000 pounds.
Turkey has been building up to this project for some time. The country is one of the few to actually build fighter jets, producing F-16s under license from the U.S. TAI also produces center fuselages, air inlet ducts, and weapons pylons for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Turkey previously proposed joining forces with South Korea to build a fighter before deciding to strike out on its own.
TF-X at the Paris Air Show, June 2019.
Although Turkey has experience with fighter production, design and development is a completely different ball game. The current lot of fifth generation fighters have proven costly and time consuming: the American F-35 Joint Strike Fighter has been in development for nearly twenty years and still has yet to enter full rate production while Russia, no slouch in the fighter business either, has spent nine years toiling away on the Sukhoi Su-57.
Turkish F-16 participating in the country’s "Blue Homeland 2019" exercises.
How Turkey will develop complex items such as the nose-mounted radar, electronic warfare systems, cockpit interface, and systems integration is unknown. Turkey
chose General Electric’s F-110 engine, used to power F-16, to initially power the TF-X until a domestic engine is developed.
Turkey may seek other help from American and European defense contractors. Russia
recently offered the Su-57 to Turkey and might be willing to part the Sukhoi jet out, selling bits of technology to boost Turkey’s development.
TAI CEO Temel Kotil,
speaking at the Paris Air Show, said the aircraft would be complete in 2023, with first flight in 2025. Kotil says the jet will enter service with the Turkish Air Force in 2028. Turkey currently flies 270 F-16 jets but is buying only 100 new F-35s. That leaves a requirement for 170 more fighters in the long term.
Actually, Turkey may end up needing a lot more fighters than that. Although an early supporter of the F-35 program, Turkey is currently embroiled in a spat with the U.S. because of its planned purchase of the Russian S-400 long range surface-to-air missile system. The U.S. is concerned that heightened defense ties between Ankara and Moscow could lead to secret F-35 information in Russian hands. Turkey, despite the S-400 being incompatible with NATO’s defense protocols, is standing firm and refusing to cancel the sale.
Turkey’s first F-35 fighter, pictured at the aircraft delivery ceremony in June 2018.
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After repeated warnings, Washington has gone through the extraordinary step of halting Turkish F-35 flight training in the U.S. and contemplating ordering Turkish air force personnel to
leave the country by the end of July. The U.S. is also exploring selling the handful of F-35s already built for Turkey to someone else, and dropping TAI as a F-35 parts supplier.
Whether that means Ankara will be able to replace this F-35 hole with brand new TF-X fighters remains to be seen.
Source:
Defense News
