Turkey Renames TF-X National Combat Aircraft as ‘KAAN’

Turkey’s domestically developed 5th-generation fighter jet, the TF-X, built under National Combat Aircraft (MMU), will be named "KAAN," President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced Monday.

Erdoğan’s remarks came after the TF-X made a runway debut and completed its first taxi test after starting its engines for the first time in mid-March.

KAAN and Hürjet, the country’s first nationally built jet-powered trainer and light attack aircraft, rolled on the runway of the Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) headquarters in Kahramankazan district the same day.

TF-X has been created with an aim to replace the F-16 aircraft in the inventory of the Air Forces Command, which is planned to be phased out starting in the 2030s. The project was launched in 2016.

The 21m jet is able to reach a maximum speed of 1.8 Mach thanks to its twin engines, which can produce 13,000kg thrust each.

KAAN will provide the opportunity to strategically attack air-to-air and air-to-ground targets. It has a completely domestic infrastructure for secure data sharing and the use of smart munitions, as per Turkish media.

With its high-performance radar, electronic warfare, electro-optics, communication, navigation and identification capability, it will achieve increased combat power with precision and accurate firing from internal weapon slots at high/supersonic speed. It also has automatic target recognition and detection, multiple data fusion and artificial intelligence capabilities.

The project helped Turkey advance in technology areas such as low visibility, internal weapons slots, high maneuverability, increased situational awareness and sensor fusion, all features that are required for a new generation aircraft.