Page 30 - ADT MARCH 2021 Online Magazine

Look

Forward

to March [ INTERVIEW TURKISH AEROSPACE ]

2023

TURKISH AEROSPACE HAS A LOT
IN STORE TO CELEBRATE THE
100TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE
REPUBLIC

Jay Menon

When Turkey celebrates the 100th anniversary
of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk’s founding of the
modern republic in 2023, Turkish Aerospace procurement processes.”
plans to roll out the Turkish Fighter (TF)/MMU,
an indigenously designed and developed multi- For the first time in Asia, Turkish Aerospace showcased a full-scale
role aircraft. The aircraft, designed mainly for mock-up of the Turkish Fighter at the just concluded Singapore
air-to-air role with a consideration to air-to- Airshow. “We sense a lot of opportunities for this fighter and its
surface roles as well, will meet the Turkish Air related technologies in the Asia Pacific region, where we already
Force (TuAF) requirements beyond 2030s, and have established customers, including for our T129 attack heli-
will replace the ageing F-16 fleet of TuAF. copters (Philippines).” The main purpose of displaying the full-size
model of the aircraft is to market it in Asia Pacific as the “region is
A New Beginning very important for expanding our business.” “We are open to making
“We have chosen March 18, 2023, a day cel- strategic decisions, and collaborations in production-oriented activ-
ebrated as Çanakkale Victory and Martyrs’ ities, and are working on new business models,” he informed.
Day for the roll out,” Farhat Kutlucan, TF-X
Technologies, Business Development Strategy Kutlucan took pride in saying that once the engineering activities
Chief, TF-X Vice Presidency, said in an exclu- on all the critical technologies are accomplished (e.g., increased
sive interview on the sidelines of the Singapore situational awareness, sensor fusion, low observability, weapon bay,
Airshow 2022. The twin-engined TF-X pro- …etc), which are needed by a 5th generation (or beyond) jet fighter
gramme is scheduled to reach the Preliminary aircraft, within the scope of TF-X Programme, Turkey will become
Design Review (PDR) later this year. “After the one of the few countries to possess the necessary technologies,
roll-out next year, we plan to conduct the first engineering infrastructure and production capabilities.
flight of the first prototype (P-1) in 2025. We
plan to start deliveries in 2029 to our primary Within the scope of TF-X Program, Turkey will become one of the
customer, the TuAF,” Kutlucan said. “Based on few countries to possess the necessary technologies, engineering
our assessment of the TuAF requirement, we infrastructure and production capabilities. “The TF is planned to
are expecting a minimum initial order of about be kept operational in the TurAF inventory until 2070s and will be
120 -140 units,” he said, “though our country's interoperable with other critical assets of TurAF such as F-35As,"
Presidency of Defense Industry decides the he added.

30 | March 2022 WWW .GBP .COM.SG/ ADT