Türkiye's indigenous fighter jet KAAN to take to the skies in December

By Gozde Bayar

ANKARA (AA) – Türkiye's indigenous fighter jet, KAAN, is scheduled to take to the skies in December, the Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) chief announced on Friday.

TAI General Manager Temel Kotil said in a television program that they chose a specific date, which is December 27, as KAAN will appear in Turkish skies, five years earlier than planned.

On Dec. 27, 1919, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, founder of the Turkish Republic, and his brothers-in-arms arrived in Ankara, which was one of the watershed moments in the establishment of the independent Turkish Republic and the beginning of the War of Independence.

KAAN was originally scheduled to fly with a Turkish engine in 2028, but the process ended faster than they expected, Kotil said.

While the KAAN project began in 2016, TAI was expected to deliver the fighter jets to the Turkish Air Force by 2028.

The 21-meter (about 69-feet) aircraft can reach a maximum speed of Mach 1.8 (2,222 kilometers per hour) thanks to its twin engines, which can produce 29,000 pounds (13,000 kilograms) thrust each.

The KAAN's capabilities include high situational awareness, optimized pilot workload, combat damage detection, new-generation mission systems, low observability, precision strikes, and an internal weapon bay.

The fifth-generation aircraft KAAN was developed by TAI with the aim to replace the Turkish army's aging F-16 fleet.