Türkiye advances in combat aircraft race, says CEO
Türkiye has made significant progress in advanced combat aircraft development while some European programs are still moving through earlier stages, Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) CEO Mehmet Demiroğlu has said.
Speaking at a conference at the Turkish Embassy in Berlin, Demiroğlu pointed to the KAAN national combat aircraft, which made its first flight in February 2024, as a sign of Türkiye’s growing aerospace capacity.
He contrasted KAAN’s progress with Europe’s Tempest and FCAS programs, saying those projects had moved more slowly.
Demiroğlu said TAI had developed 13 original platforms since 2005 and expanded its facilities into a 4 million-square-meter campus in Ankara.
