Turkish Aerospace, which has a wide range of airborne manned and unmanned platforms in development, is showcasing its might at the ongoing SAHA Expo. Speaking to Daily News at the show, Dr Mehmet Demiroğlu, General Manager, Turkish Aerospace, outlined the...
To read the full article, please log in or enter your email below:
Turkish Aerospace, which has a wide range of airborne manned and unmanned platforms in development, is showcasing its might at the ongoing SAHA Expo. Speaking to Daily News at the show, Dr Mehmet Demiroğlu, General Manager, Turkish Aerospace, outlined the progress with current programmes and interest from export customers.
“From an end user point of view, customers want to feel cared for. When they buy a platform, it needs to be available when they need it. As a result, logisitics support is very important and this is something we place a lot of emphasis on. Our customers are very happy with the quality of our products, price and logistics support.” Demiroğlu said. The airframer is now making best efforts to reduce its manufacturing costs, further improve quality and expedite deliveries to meet growing customer demand.
Q. What are the latest developments at Turkish Aerospace?
As you are aware, two days ago our Hurjet Advanced Jet Trainer (AJT) went supersonic for the first time. This is the first time in our history, that an indigenously designed and developed Turkish aircraft has crossed the speed of sound. This is an incredible thing for us and is a step forward for the programme. In addition to this, the ANKA-III our advanced Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle (UCAV) recently completed a successful test with a Tolun precision munition which has been developed by Aselsan.
This is another major milestone for the programme. We are happy with the progress in the design and development of this UCAV and are in discussion with the Turkish Air Force on how they can utilise it during testing starting from next year. Our other UAV programmes continue to do well not only in terms of production and development but also in terms of interest from the end users from different countries is increasing.
Our T-129 ATAK helicopter is a combat proven platform and countries that have already received helicopters exported by us are looking at additional helicopters to increase their squadron strength. There are also other potential customers that we are in contact with and are in negotiation for new orders. So, we are happy with the success of the ATAK helicopter programme.
Q. What are the developments in the Hurjet and Hurkus programme?
Hurjet is another success story, we already have signed a contract with the Turkish Air Force. Many other nations are very keenly interested and closely watching this programme and we are working with two of them, to a level that we are discussing as to when we can sign the contract. We are about to start advanced negotiations with these customers for these platforms. Hurkus also receiving a lot of interest, after our signing of the contract with Turkish Air Force for 55 aircraft. We will also make the maiden flight of the second Hurjet prototype before the end of this month. We will also look to have an armed variant of the Hurjet later.
There is a huge need for this kind of aircraft in the training area and we are seeing a very high potential for that platform. We are going to deliver the first Hurkus to the Turkish Air Force next year and the following year we will commence deliveries of Hurjet. The numbers may differ but we will begin deliveries with an initial batch of 3-4 aircraft next year and increasing the following years.
Q. How are some of your other important programmes progressing?
We are going to deliver the first Gokbey helicopter to our Gendarmerie. The Gokbey has been certified by Turkish military authorities and is the first helicopter designed, developed and manufactured by Turkish Aerospace. We are continuing with the development of our 10-tonne class helicopter and will have the maiden test flight for this helicopter in 2026.
We are focussing more the development of the utility helicopter now as compared to the ATAK 2. These are both being developed as platforms that will have a lot of commonalities. They will share whatever can be shared such as the rotor system, drivetrain, avionics and pretty much everything that can be share on a helicopter will be shared. The ATAK 2 helicopter development is one step behind and we did this starting of this year because of the need for the utility helicopter, for which we plan to begin deliveries by 2028.
All Nippon Airways (ANA) has been named "2025 Airline of the Year" by Air Transport World (ATW) at the 51st…
Jet Aviation’s Singapore facility has been accredited as an authorised member of the Airbus Corporate Jets (ACJ) Service Centre Network,…
The organisers of the Seoul International Aerospace & Defense Exhibition (Seoul ADEX) 2025 have announced changes to the event’s venue…
The Airbus-built CSO-3 Earth observation satellite has been launched successfully on Ariane 6’s first commercial flight from the European Spaceport…
The Indonesian Navy (TNI-AL) is exploring the potential acquisition of ITS Giuseppe Garibaldi (C 551), an Italian Navy (Marina Militare)…
The Trump administration has authorized a significant military transfer of weapon systems to Israel worth around US$3 billion, without a…
Vietnam has secured a US$680 million deal with Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) for the purchase of two spy satellites. According…
U.S intelligence organizations are trying to confirm information about Iran receiving permission from Russia to assemble Su-35 and Su-30 fighter…
Baykar Technologies and Leonardo on Thursday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to form a Italy-based joint venture for the…
SkyFive and Akses Prima Indonesia (API) have announced a partnership to introduce an Air-to-Ground (A2G) inflight connectivity network in Indonesia,…
Deutsche Aircraft has appointed Patricia Ferrari as Vice President of Supply Chain. She will oversee the company’s supply chain operations,…
The European Defence Agency (EDA) has selected Schiebel’s CAMCOPTER S-100 for its “Autonomous Systems for Cross-Domain Logistics (Air and Land)”…
Italy’s Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) teams have received advanced radar technology from Camero-Tech to assist in locating survivors in…
The Air Astana Group has increased its fleet to 60 aircraft following the arrival of a new Airbus A320neo in…
Lockheed Martin’s LM 400 technology demonstration is scheduled to launch no earlier than 15 March aboard a Firefly Aerospace Alpha…
Fly Across MRO has joined Embraer’s Authorised Service Centre Network for Executive Jets, providing base maintenance services for the Phenom…
LCR Embedded Systems has introduced the DK3HS-4, a four-slot VPX development platform designed to support 100Gb data rates (25Gb per…
Dedienne Aerospace has renewed its CFM LEAP tooling licence with CFM International for a further 10 years. The agreement extends…
FLUX GmbH (FLUX) has announced a new 300mm size option for its IND-MAX range of inductive angle encoders, designed for…
Orbit Communication Systems Ltd. has launched the MPT30Ka Deployable SATCOM System, a portable satellite communication terminal designed for rapid deployment…
AAR CORP. has entered into an exclusive distribution and licence agreement with BELAC LLC, a subsidiary of Chromalloy, for Parts…
Boeing's X-66 Sustainable Flight Demonstrator has completed two initial wind tunnel tests using scale models, a necessary step before a…
Assac Networks, a subsidiary of Aspis Cyber Technologies Inc., has secured a contract with a government authority in Asia to…
The U.S. Army’s Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) has acquired a THeMIS Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV) from Milrem…
Muirhead has introduced BioPRO Foam, a protein-based aviation biofoam that is naturally fire-resistant. The patented material is made using hydrolysed…
Korean Air has introduced a new corporate value system as it commemorates its 56th anniversary. The initiative, called "KE Way,"…
Lockheed Martin has announced that the global fleet of F-35 aircraft has accumulated more than 1 million flight hours. The…
Three MH-139A Grey Wolf helicopters underwent Initial Operational Test and Evaluation (IOT&E) flights in January as part of efforts to…
BAE Systems and Hamek have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) by which they wili work together to support Norway’s…
Turkiye has offered Indonesia the opportunity to participate in the co-development and co-production of its domestically developed 5th-generation fighter jet,…
Headquartered in Singapore with reporters spread across all major regions, GBP Aerospace & Defence is a leading media house that publishes three publications that serve the aerospace and defence sector - Asian Defence Technology, Asian Airlines & Aerospace and Daily News. Known industry-wide for quality journalism, GBP Aerospace & Defence is present at more international tradeshows and exhibitions than any other competing publication in the region.
For over three decades, our award-winning team of reporters has been producing top-notch content to help readers stay abreast of the latest developements in the field of commercial aviation, MRO, defence, and Space.
Copyright 2024. GBP. All Rights Reserved.
Home Defence & Security Space Commercial Aviation Maintence Repair & Overhaul Daily News Events About Us
2025 GBP all rights reserved.