xMustiiej70
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After having designed and manufactured several programs for its Land Force and Navy, Turkey now is seeking to go for an ambitious national program to design, develop and produce fighter jets, a process in which the country still will need foreign help.
With the program, Ankara aims to build an airpower partly independent from U.S. technology and control, analysts here have said.
The Turkish government has tasked the national aerospace company, the Turkish Aerospace Industries, or TAI, with working out a road map for devising a partnership model for the national fighter aircraft, dubbed the FX.
The Undersecretariat for Defense Industries, or SSM, the national procurement agency, has earmarked $20 million to TAI for the "conceptual design" of a fighter aircraft to be built after 2020. The TAI's work will take up to two years.
Defense Minister Vecdi Gönül said in December that Turkey would develop and manufacture its own fighter aircraft, either by itself or in cooperation with another country. Gönül at the time said Turkey may cooperate with South Korea, but implied that this is not a strong possibility. Procurement officials later said the Korean option was not likely because Seoul at this point does not agree to an equal partnership.
Procurement officials familiar with the emerging fighter program said likely partners for the FX project may include Italy's Alenia Aeronautica and Brazil's Embraer. These companies do not have their own fighter programs, although Embraer eyes one and Alenia Aeronautica already is cooperating with German, British and Spanish partners for the Eurofighter consortium's Eurofighter Typhoon.
Gönül has said previously that Turkey has ruled out purchasing the Typhoon, which already has been developed.
We will know in two years
"We expect TAI to open negotiations with potential partners later this year, and by next year or 2013 we should know with whom we will take the road," said one procurement official.
Like Gönül, the official did not rule out South Korea as a potential partner, but added that Seoul's insistence on having an overwhelming majority in a joint partnership was a problem.
If successful, the program will earn Turkey an airpower parallel to its present and future U.S.-led fleet. Turkey's present fleet mostly is based on the U.S. F-16. Turkey also is a partner in the U.S.-led multinational consortium Joint Strike Fighter, or JSF, that will build the F-25 Lightning II fighter.
Ankara plans to buy up to 116 F-35s, worth nearly $15 billion over the next 15 years. Many Turkish companies are members of the JSF consortium of nine Western nations, and are producing parts for the aircraft. Turkey also will receive 30 modern F-16 Block 50s from Lockheed Martin, also the F-35's top maker, as a stop-gap solution until the F-35 deliveries begin around 2015.
Officials said Turkey's newly designed fighter aircraft "also would be a next-generation type, would replace the [older, U.S.-made] F-4E Phantoms and would function well with the F-16s and the F-35s." They confirmed that the new aircraft, although being capable of multi-role operations, still mostly would be meant for air-to-air fighting.
The Air Force's present fleet of up to 90 F-4E planes has been modernized by Israel and Turkey, with their equipment practically falling outside of U.S. operational control. But these Vietnam-war jets will phase out gradually around 2020.
Finally... an almost pure air to air fighter.
exactly what we needed.
imagine.. after 2020.. f35-f16block 52(own systems)-us indepedent a2a fighter
oh man..but wait.. how many will we produce these and buy them? if its a succesfull fighter?
and what generation are they planning? what do they mean by also would be a next-generation type?
With the program, Ankara aims to build an airpower partly independent from U.S. technology and control, analysts here have said.
The Turkish government has tasked the national aerospace company, the Turkish Aerospace Industries, or TAI, with working out a road map for devising a partnership model for the national fighter aircraft, dubbed the FX.
The Undersecretariat for Defense Industries, or SSM, the national procurement agency, has earmarked $20 million to TAI for the "conceptual design" of a fighter aircraft to be built after 2020. The TAI's work will take up to two years.
Defense Minister Vecdi Gönül said in December that Turkey would develop and manufacture its own fighter aircraft, either by itself or in cooperation with another country. Gönül at the time said Turkey may cooperate with South Korea, but implied that this is not a strong possibility. Procurement officials later said the Korean option was not likely because Seoul at this point does not agree to an equal partnership.
Procurement officials familiar with the emerging fighter program said likely partners for the FX project may include Italy's Alenia Aeronautica and Brazil's Embraer. These companies do not have their own fighter programs, although Embraer eyes one and Alenia Aeronautica already is cooperating with German, British and Spanish partners for the Eurofighter consortium's Eurofighter Typhoon.
Gönül has said previously that Turkey has ruled out purchasing the Typhoon, which already has been developed.
We will know in two years
"We expect TAI to open negotiations with potential partners later this year, and by next year or 2013 we should know with whom we will take the road," said one procurement official.
Like Gönül, the official did not rule out South Korea as a potential partner, but added that Seoul's insistence on having an overwhelming majority in a joint partnership was a problem.
If successful, the program will earn Turkey an airpower parallel to its present and future U.S.-led fleet. Turkey's present fleet mostly is based on the U.S. F-16. Turkey also is a partner in the U.S.-led multinational consortium Joint Strike Fighter, or JSF, that will build the F-25 Lightning II fighter.
Ankara plans to buy up to 116 F-35s, worth nearly $15 billion over the next 15 years. Many Turkish companies are members of the JSF consortium of nine Western nations, and are producing parts for the aircraft. Turkey also will receive 30 modern F-16 Block 50s from Lockheed Martin, also the F-35's top maker, as a stop-gap solution until the F-35 deliveries begin around 2015.
Officials said Turkey's newly designed fighter aircraft "also would be a next-generation type, would replace the [older, U.S.-made] F-4E Phantoms and would function well with the F-16s and the F-35s." They confirmed that the new aircraft, although being capable of multi-role operations, still mostly would be meant for air-to-air fighting.
The Air Force's present fleet of up to 90 F-4E planes has been modernized by Israel and Turkey, with their equipment practically falling outside of U.S. operational control. But these Vietnam-war jets will phase out gradually around 2020.
Finally... an almost pure air to air fighter.
exactly what we needed.
imagine.. after 2020.. f35-f16block 52(own systems)-us indepedent a2a fighter
oh man..but wait.. how many will we produce these and buy them? if its a succesfull fighter?
and what generation are they planning? what do they mean by also would be a next-generation type?
