Turkey shows interest in JF-17 Thunder

[DelhiDareDevil]

Never see Turkey buying JF-17, they would want better quality planes, such is Rafale or EF.

 

[Agent X]

can Pakistan sell JF-17 to india?
tejas is a complete failure

False flag is old trick now.......grow up.

 

[hatf IX]

to me Turkey buying JF-17 makes perfect sense. . . . . .
Turkey is making f-16 for some time know, as per my knowledge she is also manufacturing avionics . . . . and know turkey need test bed to test and perfect their avionics if they build their own it will cost a lot and delays a lot.
and as for f-16 may be US do not allow them to play with it freely but they can do any thing with JF-17(i mean any kind of modification they want) . . . .
My point of view

 

[Windjammer]

In a news item in AFM, covering the Izmir Airshow in Turkey, the author writes, "One of the three participating JF-17s was in the static display, generating much interest, and the TuAF Commander was impressed with what he saw of the fighter built by Pakistan. Both PAF aircraft, F-16 and JF-17, were among the stars of the show, with the F-16 putting on a particularly impressive display that saw Wg Cdr Ali pull around 9G. The JF-17 definitely showed the watching crowds it's capabilities, with one foreign pilot suggesting 'it flew like an F-16'. "

 

[SQ8]

Turkey has no need to buy the JF.. its low end will be the F-16 in the next few years..
It does however, offer a lot as a potential JF supplier and armorer.

 

[Windjammer]

With it's defence industry nucleus well in place and an active F-16 assembly line, access to NATO markets and all that, the PAF did well to make a high profile presence in Turkey. Insider has it that some NATO big shots present at the show, left their stations to observe the JF-17 performance.

 

[fatman17]

turkey is going to replace its phantoms and F-5's with the F-35 Litening II. what is can offer Pakistan is a avionics upgrade in many areas to improve the JFT's capabilities.

 

[SBD-3]

turkey is going to replace its phantoms and F-5's with the F-35 Litening II. what is can offer Pakistan is a avionics upgrade in many areas to improve the JFT's capabilities.

Looks like there are some problems

Turkey mulls withdrawing from JSF- Gulf countries to finance indigenous alternative
3 January 2011, Sunday / ERCAN YAVUZ, ANKARA
Turkey is seriously reconsidering the myriad agreements it has signed with the US, as well as its participation in an international consortium for the procurement of new generation fighter jets, due to rising costs and persisting problems originating from the American side.

Turkey is now seeking new ways to sidestep difficulties in the procurement of F-16 fighter planes, which it has been jointly producing with the US since 1987, due to the delayed delivery by the US authorities of some of the plane’s parts and accessories. There have been serious doubts as to whether Turkey’s plan to purchase 100 F-35 fighter planes would ever materialize, as the country is thinking about withdrawing from the consortium following the hike in costs that resulted from other countries leaving from the consortium.

With 240 F-16s, Turkey has the third largest fleet of these fighter jets after the US and Israel. Turkey chose the F-16 to use in its air force in the early 1980s, and Turkish Aerospace Industries (TA&#304 was established soon after the decision. Between 1987 and 1995, TAİ assembled 152 planes in the first phase of the F-16 project. The second phase took place between 1995 and 1999, and 80 planes were assembled. Turkey received its first overseas order for F-16 planes in 1993 from the Egyptian air force and assembled 46 planes for them.

Recently TAI upgraded the first of 17 planes for Jordan’s air force within the context of a modernization program. Several Turkey-made planes have also been dispatched to Pakistan.

In total TAİ has assembled 278 F-16s since it first began operations in 1987. During production, 29 planes were produced with no mistakes and three of them were considered “perfect.” Considering that only nine F-16 planes are produced as perfect out of 4,000 fighter jets in the world, Turkey’s success is conspicuous.

Turkey suspended production of the F-16 in 2000, but these fighter jets still remain the backbone of the Turkish armed forces.

Strained ties delayed delivery of plane accessories

As the agreement between the US and Turkey expired in 2000, Turkey has continued to work with Israel in modernizing the F-16s. Turkey has attempted to compensate for several mistakes that occurred while working with the US through several deals with Israel. The fundamental problem was that the US did not hand the F-16s directly to the Turkish Air Forces and it required TAİ-made planes be tested in the US before the eventual delivery to the Turkish Air Forces.

The US had also refused to provide source codes for the software of F-16s to Turkey since the inception of the joint production. Tensions in the relations between the US and Turkey have recently spawned a series of crises in this particular sphere, a possibility which Turkey has overlooked for years.

A senior official at the Turkish Undersecretariat for the Defense Industry (SSM) confided in Today’s Zaman that the US is not willing to provide vital parts of the F-16 planes to Turkey in contrast to agreements the two countries have signed in the past few years.

The same senior official said the US delayed the fulfillment its duties specified in the agreements it signed with Turkey between 1987 and 1995 and that this has caused serious problems in modernization of F-16s.

The official lamented that Turkey is experiencing very serious problems in obtaining parts and accessories for the planes as ties with Israel collapsed, and that he finds it noteworthy to stress that the US administration has made congressional approval a precondition of selling any sort of weaponry and military equipment.

Last October the US expressed concerns that Turkey was using US-made F-16s in the Turkey-China aerial exercises, which took place in the Central Anatolian town of Konya, but Turkey reassured the US administration that no US-made jets were used in the joint drill.

Turkey decided to modernize 165 F-16 planes on Dec. 11, 2009 and several Israeli firms were competing to win the tender, along with Turkey’s TUSAŞ and HAVELSAN. All projects between Turkey and Israel in the areas of military training and cooperation were frozen in mid-June after the lethal May 31 Israeli raid on the Mavi Marmara, which was carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza, leaving left nine civilians dead. The two countries were set to realize a $757 million plane and tank modernization project but this project was also shelved. The Turkish government decided to give the modernization tender to Turkish firms after Turkish-Israeli ties became strained.

A $240 million modernization project was given to Turkish companies, but 30 percent of the plane’s parts will be provided by the US military behemoth Lockheed Martin.

Turkey is also considering its participation in the world’s largest military consortium that is planning to produce 3,000 F-35 fighter jets. Turkey is the ninth country to take part in the production process of the F-35 warplane project. The other countries are the US, the UK, Italy, the Netherlands, Australia, Denmark, Canada and Norway. Turkey is expected to purchase 100 F-35 jets in the next 15 to 20 years. Rising costs pushed several countries to withdraw from the $280 billion project, and the same senior official said Turkey might also consider withdrawing.

The Defense Industry Executive Committee (SSİK), under the aegis of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, will make its final decision in April. The SSİK is seeking ways to jointly produce some parts of F-35 fighter planes with the American General Electric Co. and the Rolls-Royce Group in Turkey.

Turkey is also deliberating the exchange of its F-16s for F-35s within a reasonable time period. Turkey is expected to pay nearly $11 billion for 100 F-35 fighter jets. Citing rising costs in production, the consortium is asking Turkey for an additional $4 billion for the F-35s, but Turkey is reluctant to pay this amount. As some countries have withdrawn from the project, Turkey will reportedly have to pay up to $25 billion for the project.

Turkey is planning joint warplane production with Gulf countries
Turkey has made a radical shift recently, deciding to produce its first fleet of national fighter jets following crises in F-16 and F-35 projects with the US and Israel.

Turkish authorities decided during a Defense Industry Executive Committee (SSİK) meeting last December to begin production on the first Turkish fighter jets in 2020 in order to meet the needs of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK). TUSAŞ Engine Industries Inc. (TE&#304 and TAİ will be the leading companies that will undertake production of these fighter jets, planning to design and produce plane engines by 2015.

Israel claimed that Turkey will fail to produce these jets as no country in the world would dare to build its own planes without participating in a consortium due to the high costs.

Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Adana deputy Kürşat Atılgan told Today’s Zaman that no country could produce a fighter jet by itself and for lucrative production, there needs to be at least 400 jets produced. Considering this fact, Turkey had been secretly trying to build a consortium with neighboring and friendly countries. In last month’s SSİK meeting, Gönül also talked about the possibility of joint production of fighter jets with South Korean companies. This issue was raised during Erdoğan’s recent visit to Gulf countries. Turkey thinks it will be easier to produce its own fighter jets with five countries involved in the region.
Problems persist with the US on fighter planes

 

[AZADPAKISTAN2009]

Well , I think it would be good for Pakistan to inquire possibilities to join a project for aviation with Turkey

 

[isi admirer]

Well , I think it would be good for Pakistan to inquire possibilities to join a project for aviation with Turkey

bt i think pakistan should go for french and as far i think this deal will be done up to december of this year and we can work with turky for j2x along with china.....

 

[epinephrine]

turkey is not like pakistan.they r not labeled as a terrorist state like pak n they have money in their pockets as well. so they have access to almost the latest military hardware for their armed forces n they can afford it as well. it will be a stupid move by their govt to go for thunder as they already have more advanced planes (F-16) in their fleet in a large quantity n r negotiating for more blk 52 vipers.they should go for more advance platforms which r available in the market like eurofighters n rafale n may be F-35.JF-17 is not a match for any of these aircrafts.

 

[DESERT FIGHTER]

turkey is not like pakistan.they r not labeled as a terrorist state like pak n they have money in their pockets as well. so they have access to almost the latest military hardware for their armed forces n they can afford it as well. it will be a stupid move by their govt to go for thunder as they already have more advanced planes (F-16) in their fleet in a large quantity n r negotiating for more blk 52 vipers.they should go for more advance platforms which r available in the market like eurofighters n rafale n may be F-35.JF-17 is not a match for any of these aircrafts.

Change the flag... s....g

 

[ziaulislam]

turkey is not like pakistan.they r not labeled as a terrorist state like pak n they have money in their pockets as well. so they have access to almost the latest military hardware for their armed forces n they can afford it as well. it will be a stupid move by their govt to go for thunder as they already have more advanced planes (F-16) in their fleet in a large quantity n r negotiating for more blk 52 vipers.they should go for more advance platforms which r available in the market like eurofighters n rafale n may be F-35.JF-17 is not a match for any of these aircrafts.

they were considering the korean golden eagle for some time too. dont be stunned that turkey go for jf-17 with indigenous western avionic/radar package to replace a fleet of older jets they have.
as whole programme will cost them little but its highly unlikely

 

[Cool_Soldier]

Good fo both countries to share their projects.Turkey should involve in JF-17 and pakistan should join T-129 Project.
Good luck for both brother nations ...

 

[Dazzler]

on the basis of technicality, i do not see Turkey as a potential customer simply because the purpose of JFT project was to fill the market segment where sophisticated technology is needed at a reasonable price having no strings (political or economical) whatsoever. Turkey already has her hands full with current as well as upcoming options where JFT seems a misfit. Unless something drastic happens, Turkey as a candidate seems unlikely.