Turkey to unveil its national combat aircraft in 2023: President

ANKARA

Turkey will take its national combat aircraft out of the hangar in 2023 and “show it to the whole world,” President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Jan. 6.

The national combat aircraft will take its first flight in 2025, and join the fleet of the Turkish Air Force in 2029, he said, addressing the opening ceremony of the National Fighter Jet Production Facility, organized with the theme of “National Technologies and New Investments” by the Turkish Aerospace Industries, Inc. (TUSAŞ).

Turkey is among the top 10 countries that can design, build and operate their own warships, and it is now one of the top three countries in the production of UAVs, UCAVs and fighting UAVs, he added.

It is due to these achievements that we can comfortably carry out anti-terrorist operations within our borders and conduct cross-border peace operations, Erdoğan stated.

Stressing that Turkey had become a country capable of meeting not only its own needs but also the needs of the friendly and allied countries in terms of land and sea vehicles, President Erdoğan said: Turkey has reached this level despite all the difficulties caused by global suppliers, the “hidden and open embargoes it has been exposed to, and the sabotage carried out from inside and outside,” Erdoğan stated.

Recalling that the number of defense projects, which he underlined was once 62 in 20 years ago, had today surpassed 752, Erdoğan said that the Turkish companies that operated in this area had increased from 56 to 1,500. “In a similar vein, the budget of the defense industry projects has increased from $5.5 billion to $75 billion; the annual turnover of the sector from $1 billion to $10 billion; and our exports from $248 million to $3,224 billion,” he added.

Highlighting that the country’s exports increased from $248 million to $3,224 billion, he said: “We have become a country that meets the needs of not only itself but also friendly and allied countries in the land and sea vehicles.”