By 2023, Turkey will present its fifth generation fighter, and its first test flight is scheduled for 2026. This was stated by the country's vice-president Fuat Oktay. According to the politician, the cars will go into service with the Turkish Air Force in 2031.
According to experts, we are talking about the project of the fifth generation fighter TF-X, which is being worked on by the Turkish aerospace company Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI). In the future, new aircraft will have to replace outdated F-16 fighters, which are assembled in Ankara under license from the American corporation Lockheed Martin.
"Serious level"
For the first time, the subject of plans to develop aircraft for the national air force in Ankara began in 2013. In this case, it was a long-term strategy - according to the calculations of the Turkish leadership, the fighters will have to serve in the Air Force of the country until at least 2060.
From the very beginning, in its work on the project, Ankara relied on international cooperation. In June 2013, the Turkish Ministry of Defense signed an agreement on technology partnership with the European company Saab - then the Swedish designers developed three design options for a promising combat aircraft.
- Vice-President of Turkey Fuat Oktay.
- © Metin Aktas / Anadolu Agency / Getty Images
As reported in 2013, the Defense News publication, citing several sources in the Turkish military-industrial circles, Ankara can spend about $ 31–33 billion on the implementation of the TF-X program. These funds are only part of Turkey’s total expenditures on re-equipping the air force.
In November 2017, Nurettin Janikli, then Minister of National Defense of Turkey, once again confirmed that work on the TF-X fighter was under way.
"We will go through all the stages of the project as soon as possible, there will be no delays," Anadolu quoted the ex-minister as saying. Janikli added that Turkey’s partners from different countries were involved in the creation of the winged car. According to the official, this diversification is necessary so that Ankara does not depend on one particular state.
“If you cooperate with one company or with one country, you may encounter various problems at certain stages of the project’s implementation,” explained Janikli.
In January 2017, the Turkish TAI and the UK company BAE Systems signed an agreement according to which the British side pledged to help its Turkish colleagues in working on the TF-X project.
At the end of the same year, TAI published the preliminary tactical and technical characteristics that the future fighter should possess. Its maximum take-off weight will be about 27 tons, the wingspan is 12 meters. The practical ceiling of the aircraft will exceed 16 km, and the radius of application - 1.1 thousand km.
Also, the company clarified that the TF-X will be able to interact with US fighter-bombers F-35.
Despite the fact that Turkey is actively cooperating with foreign companies, it expects to design the engine on its own, as well as develop weapons that will carry the new aircraft.
According to experts, by setting up fighter production on its territory, Turkey seeks to give impetus to the development of a number of industries, as well as to create new jobs.
As the commercial director of Arsenal of the Fatherland magazine, Alexey Leonkov, told RT, one should not be surprised that the Turkish side intends to develop the aircraft with the help of foreign companies, since this is a fairly common practice.
“This approach is the first stage in the development of its aviation industry for military use. The next step may be the replacement of the supplied parts, components and assemblies with their own and, ultimately, the output of a fully independent production, ”the expert explained.
Leonkov noted that it is still difficult to judge whether the Turkish project will be crowned with success. The question is whether the country has enough financial and human resources. At the same time, Turkey has a great potential to move to the production of its own aircraft. Ankara has gained considerable experience collecting F-16s under a US license, the expert added.
- Recep Erdogan
- Reuters
- © Umit Bektas
A political scientist and military expert Ivan Konovalov also holds a similar point of view. According to him, Turkey wants to have its own defense-industrial complex (DIC), which will create its own line of weapons. Today there are only a few states in the world that can do this, the expert explained in an interview with RT.
“Many countries produce airplanes through diversification and obtaining components from their foreign partners,” recalled Konovalov. “The defense industry of all states to one degree or another depends on suppliers.” Only Russia, France, the USA, Germany and partly the United Kingdom are engaged in the full production cycle of their own aircraft, the expert stressed.
“There are prospects that the Turkish defense industry complex will reach a serious level. However, by 2023 this will be impossible to do. But the fact that Ankara is seeking this is true, ”added Konovalov.
Creating a TF-X is not the only defense project in Turkey. As the Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated in November 2017, Ankara must by 2023 - the centenary of the founding of the Turkish Republic - overcome its dependence on the import of arms.
It is worth noting that the Turkish leadership is not limited to mere statements in the field of arms import substitution. Thus, Ankara has already launched an extensive production of small arms, becoming a major exporter of rifles and shotguns. True, most of it, although it is notable for its low price, is still based on borrowed technical solutions. Samples of self-developed small arms began to appear in Turkey relatively recently.
Ankara periodically faces problems due to too close cooperation with foreign companies. A vivid example is the history of the creation of the newest Turkish tank Altay. Work on it was temporarily suspended due to the cooling in relations between Turkey and the EU - European companies refused to participate in the project. However, in November last year, the tank still went into mass production.
Decrease in dependency
The events of recent years have shown that Turkey may have disagreements with its partners, not only in the framework of joint work on a defense project, but also on arms supplies.
In 2006, Ankara decided to purchase from the United States 100 fifth-generation fighter F-35 Lightning II. It was planned that the new aircraft will replace the F-16 and F-4 fighter-bomber aircraft in the Turkish Air Force fleet. The term of the contract was to be 20 years. At the same time, the Turkish side took a direct part in the creation of a new aircraft, along with other US partners in NATO - the United Kingdom, Italy, the Netherlands, Canada, Australia, Norway and Denmark.
- F-35 Lightning II
- © US Air Force
Nevertheless, F-35 deliveries to Ankara were threatened by the fact that Turkey expressed its readiness to acquire Russian S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems.
Recall that the Turkish Foreign Ministry announced its intention to conclude a deal with Moscow on acquiring an air defense system in April 2017, after which the parties announced the signing of a relevant contract.
This decision provoked Washington’s protest - the American side even threatened Turkey with sanctions. The White House believes that the delivery of F-35 fighter jets to a country in whose territory Russian-made air defense systems will be deployed is unacceptable.
Despite the fact that the Turkish leadership has firmly stated that it does not intend to terminate the deal with Moscow, Washington does not abandon its attempts to put pressure on its NATO partner.
On March 2, the acting head of the Pentagon, Patrick Shanahan, stated that over the last two months he had met five times with his Turkish counterpart, Hulusi Akar. During the negotiations, he returned to the subject of the Russian-Turkish contract every time.
“My position is that C-400 and F-35 are incompatible,” said Shanakhan in an interview with Bloomberg.
According to experts, the desire to get rid in the future of the need to negotiate with Washington on the conditions for the supply of weapons and equipment has pushed Ankara to develop its own defense industry complex.
“The actions of the Turkish side are aimed at reducing the level of dependence on the United States, which previously set forth their terms of supply for the F-35. Ankara has long been trying to pursue an independent policy in this area in order to stop sitting on the defense “injections” of NATO, ”Leonkov believes.
In turn, Konovalov said that the TF-X project is being carried out within the framework of the long-stated goal of the Turkish leadership in import substitution in the defense industry. By implementing this and other projects, Ankara would prove the independence of its military-industrial complex from the United States.
“Washington can cancel any arrangement at any time. The Turkish side does not believe the United States, foresees a betrayal on their part. European countries are Turkey’s main partners in the defense industry, but as soon as the United States “presses the button,” cooperation ends. Therefore, Ankara wants to get out of control of Washington and partners in the North Atlantic Alliance, ”concluded Konovalov.