Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) has delivered the first Falcon (F-16) fighter jet produced in Turkey to the Turkish Air Forces (THK).
According to the information Today’s Zaman received from Ministry of Defense sources, TAI recently delivered one of the 50 planned F-16 fighter jets to the THK. The US Congress on Oct. 15, 2006, approved the program to assemble new planes to be carried out at the TAI facility, while the engines of the fighter jet will be produced at the TUSAŞ Engine Industries (TEI) factory in the province of Eskişehir. While the first F-16 fully produced in Turkey was recently delivered, the source said the other 49 F-16s will be completed by the end of 2012.
Turkey chose the F-16 to use in its air force in the early 1980s and TAI was established soon after the decision. Between 1987 and 1995, TAI assembled 152 planes in the first phase of the F-16 project. The second phase took place between 1995 and 1999, during which 80 planes were assembled. Turkey received its first overseas order for F-16 planes from the Egyptian Air Force in 1993 and assembled 46 planes for them. TAI recently upgraded the first of 17 planes for Jordan’s air force in the context of a modernization program.
F-16 fighter jets can reach a top speed of 2,124 kilometers per hour, twice the speed of sound. They have a high level of maneuverability even at low speeds and can accelerate or decelerate in a very short time. The planes can fly 860 kilometers with a full fuel tank when fully armed. The F-16 can detect even planes flying at very low altitudes with its powerful radar system.
Meanwhile, THK has also recently agreed to buy 30 advanced F-16 Block 50 fighter jets from the US company Lockheed Martin Aeronautics. These new F-16s are an upgraded version of the older ones. The fuel tanks, which were outside the body of the old F-16s, are now inside the body of the Block 50 type jets. It has also newer guns and electronic systems, the source said, adding that value of the agreement on buying Block 50 fighter jets from the US is estimated at around $1.7 billion.
via zaman