Tag: Fighter jets

  • Turkey’s 5th Generation Fighter: KAAN

    Turkey’s 5th Generation Fighter: KAAN

    Turkey’s TF Kaan 5th Generation Fighter

    On the 21st of February 2024, a new 5th-gen fighter took to the skies. The Turkish Aerospace Industries TF Kaan is Turkey’s first domestically built modern fighter, and as we shall see, it marks the beginning of an ambitious program to refit Turkey’s military with nationally produced equipment. So, what is the TF Kaan, and what is it likely to be capable of?

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  • Fighter jets in Democratic convention’s military montage were Turkish, not American

    Fighter jets in Democratic convention’s military montage were Turkish, not American

    democraticconvention

    By Neil Munro

    The Democratic Party’s national convention in Charlotte, N.C., may have doubled down on insulting the U.S. military community.

    The Democratic National Committee has already apologized for using a photo of four Soviet-era Russian warships in a giant stage backdrop intended to illustrate the party’s support for military personnel and veterans.

    That huge image, visible in the Time Warner Cable Arena during speeches by Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry and retired Admiral John B. Nathman, also depicted a synchronized formation of jet aircraft that convention-goers assumed were American fighter planes.

    But the F-5 fighter planes in the photo are part of the air force of Turkey, a nation whose government is now jailing journalists and establishing Islam as a state religion.

    Brad Woodhouse, a spokesman for the Democratic National Committee, did not respond when the The Daily Caller asked why the convention planners displayed Turkish-flown aircraft alongside Russian warships while seeking support from the American military community.

    On Sept. 12, Democrats apologized for using the picture of Soviet-era, Russian-operated ships after the slip up was first reported by the Navy Times. The Navy Times also received a tip that the planes depicted may have been from the Turkish Air Force. (NAVAL EXPERT: Ships shown during Democratic convention tribute to veterans were Russian)

    The vessels, with their distinct radars and blue-cross-motif Russian naval flags, occupied the center of the massive backdrop. The aircraft were depicted flying in a seven-plane formation on the upper right.

    At least three of the ships in the image were designed and built by the Soviet totalitarian state that killed 20 million of its own citizens. Amid steady pressure from the U.S. military, the Soviet Union collapsed in 1989, marking its defeat in the four-decade Cold War. One of the warships may now be part of the Ukrainian Navy.

    The Russian ships and Turkish aircraft were shown during the final night of the Charlotte convention on Sept. 6, shortly before President Barack Obama accepted his party’s nomination to serve a second term.

    The image first appeared in the closing minutes of an address by Sen. Kerry.

    Obama is “a commander-in-chief who gives our troops the tools and training they need in war,” Kerry said, reinforced by visuals of foreign ships and aircraft operated by foreign-trained military personnel. (SEE ALSO: TheDC’s complete coverage of the 2012 DNC)

    Martin Rosenkranz, a military aircraft expert and editor-in-chief of a military aviation journal in Austria, revealed the fighter jets’ origin to The Daily Caller.

    “The aircraft in this image displayed are not U.S. [operated] aircraft,” he told TheDC.

    “The jets are most likely from the Turkish air force [because] the formation and the type (F-5) flown is very typical of the seven-ship formation flown by the Turkish Air Force Display Team known as the ‘Turkish Stars,’” said Rosenkranz.

    “There is no other display team worldwide” that uses a similar seven-aircraft formation.

    Rosenkranz’s argument is bolstered by two other factors.

    The aircraft shown at the Democrats’ convention are old F-5 aircraft. They were were designed in the United States and sold to many countries, including Turkey — whose display team uses that same model.

    Also, the planes depicted in the Democrats’ Sept. 6 photo montage display an unusual red and white striped pattern painted on the underside of their fuselages — most visible on the lowest and best-lit of the F-5s in the image.

    During a June 2012 airshow in Norway, seven of the “Turkish Stars” F-5s flew in formation above a cheering crowd. They all featured that same striped paint job, which can be seen 45 seconds into an amateur video available online.

     

    The latest Charlotte faux pas comes as Obama has called for help from Turkey’s prime minister, Recep Erdogan, to stem widespread Islamist riots against U.S. facilities and diplomatic personnel.

    Obama and Islamist leaders agree the riots were spurred in part by an anti-Islamic video produced in California, although many regional experts say upsurge was caused by Islamist groups competing for support from anti-American voters.

    After blaming the video, the White House asked YouTube on Sept. 14 to consider removing the footage from its Web servers. That same night, just after midnight Pacific time, California police drove the film’s producer to an interview with federal law enforcement authorities to discuss a possible parole violation.

    David Martosko contributed reporting.

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    Daily Caller

  • Turkey to design, produce its own fighter jet

    Turkey to design, produce its own fighter jet

    “The decision we have taken now calls for the production of a totally national and original aircraft,” Gonul told reporters last week after a meeting of the powerful Defense Industry Executive Committee decided to nix plans to purchase 60 of the latest Typhoon jet fighters. “This move by the committee effectively is a decision for making Turkey’s first fighter aircraft,” Gonul said. “The Eurofighter is off Turkey’s agenda.”

    F16

    According to reports, the new aircraft would replace the aging US-made F-4, which had been upgraded by Israel to last well into the next decade, as well as newer F-16s. The expected roll out date for Turkey’s twin-engine combat jet would reportedly be about 2023.

    Ankara has already announced it plans to procure some 100 of the next-generation F-35s Joint Strike Fighter aircraft in a deal worth about $15 billion. The first JSF jets are expected to be delivered around 2015. According to Defense News, however, Turkey would take the approximately 30 F-16 fighters only as a “stopgap” measure.

    The decision to fly solo in developing a fighter jet comes as Turkey distances itself from its North Atlantic Treaty Organization partners in Europe and North America, and seeks closer ties with its Middle Eastern neighbors. In November, Turkey disputed NATO plans for a missile shield against a possible Iranian attack and has objected to the alliance sharing information with Israel.

    Turkey assembles the F-16s on contract from Lockheed Martin at a Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) plant. The government named state-controlled TAI, based on the outskirts of Ankara, as the general coordinator of the new fighter jet project. The Turkish Defense Industry’s Procurement agency SSM has allotted some $20 million for a two-year conceptual design study.

    “It’s a large endeavor. I’m skeptical that they would be able to do the project on their own since Turkey didn’t have the adequate technological know-how,” said one aerospace executive intimately involved with the design and production of the Israeli fighter jet Lavi in the 1980s.

    “But it’s not just technological know-how. Developing a fighter jet requires billions and billions of dollars. It’s certainly not the same as assembling an aircraft. It takes a very long time to develop the technology and then you need to have the influx of funding to bring it all together,” the executive, who spoke on condition he not be named, told The Media Line.

    Turkish industry officials told The Media Line that the government decision didn’t make sense. Turkey was currently so heavily engaged in joint international aircraft design projects such as the F-35 that it wouldn’t be feasible to embark on such a costly and risky venture, the officials said.

    While hardly world class, the Turkish defense industry is growing and modernizing. But it remains dependent on foreign technology. TAI has designed the Hurkus, a basic training aircraft, but it has yet to make its maiden flight. It has also rolled out an unmanned aerial vehicle this year called the ANKA.

    “Development is very, very expensive. Israel was a small country without a big defense budget. Even when we had the infrastructure we decided to give up on it because it was just too expensive,” the executive said, adding that any development today would likely be more successful with international partners.

    Israel eventually scrapped the Lavi — built to be a competitor with the F-16 –under heavy US pressure and from a lack of funds.

    Defense Minister Gonul said Turkey might cooperate with South Korea, which was developing the KF-X fighter jet with Indonesia. However, that project has sputtered due to lack of funding.

    Arabnews