What are you talking about? That F-35 deal is simply part of F-35 program commitment from US side. Basically, it is just an offset agreement. Let’s do NOT go over our heads. Turkey simply does not possess skills, knowledge, or experience to succeed in advanced aircraft programs without significant foreign input. Every single significant product you listed in these posts have their roots from an outside partner. They are simply assemble work / license production. Only potential success with local sources may be with drones in coming years.

Also what is that with Turkey can produce almost everything to build an F-16? Please… :highly_amused:

Even locally designed trainer aircraft delayed by years (even though it was using all the off-the-shelf components possible) and TuAF had to buy KT-1 from Korea.

And finally, this is off-topic but good fun.

The KT-1 was a stop-gap measure.

As for Turkey not producing F-16’s I direct your attention to the following:

https://www.tai.com.tr/en/department/aircraft-group
https://www.tei.com.tr

The Turks not only produce every critical component in the TuAF F-16’s they also have many indigenous sub-systems.

The most ambitious is the Aselsan AESA
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There is Su-30MKI being assembled in India and there is JF17 assembled in Pakistan. What is so special about F-16 assembly in Turkey except for assembling couple of decades ago.

There is a difference between assembling aircraft provided in kits and licence production of entire aircraft and engines. Turkey now produces nearly every single part used in the F-16 in Turkey and by through various Turkish suppliers. This includes but is not limited to an indigenous mission computer. An Aselsan AESA radar is also nearing completion for the Tuaf F-16 fleet and will compete in the market for a Version V upgrade equivalent. One would note Turkish Aerospace Industries has upgraded Egyptian, Jordanian and Pakistani F-16 feets in the past. The US, Turkey (TAI & TEI) and Japan (Mitsubishi) are the only countries to licence produce F-16s. Even Israel does not licence produce them but rather Israeli is allowed to install its sub-systems in F-16’s. Turkey on the other hand has also acted as an agent for Lockheed Martin in the Middle East and produced F-16’s for third-parties such as the Egyptian Air Force.

Ok thanks, but that is not quite the same as developed and in serial production, though maybe I misunderstood you.

The ASELPOD has been exported to Pakistan when it won a tender against the Sniper and Litening: http://quwa.org/2016/06/23/aselsan-selling-16-aselpod-targeting-pods-pakistan/

Well, one has to be honest here, not yet.
– TAI Anka is one of the bright achievements – but it’s still just an UCAV built in mere five examples. EAF order has been cancelled and Saudis are not that far yet.
– Hurkus-C is probably one of the more promising ones, but even THK is not certain about its future as they have pushed for the Korean KT-1C, instead.
– TAI/SNC Freedom Trainer – I would not hold my breath here
– TAI T625 – well, nice to see that the strategic coproduction leads to an indigenous design. Yet, TAI is still very far from having an operational helicopter
– licensed F-16s – with all due respect, that is not what is being discussed here. Other than that, why not include T-129, then?
– TR-Jet – adapted Dornier 328

As for components, most of the stuff ASELSAN has produced thus far were licensed versions, but the new ASELFLIR/ASELPOD series is nice.
As for a GaN radar, I am not aware of any, what is its name?

TAI has orders for 97 TAI Anka’s in various configurations. 10 Systems are already in the Turkish Air Force inventory. The Egyptian Air Force cancelled the purchase because President Morsi was overthrown and President Erdogan refused to work with the dictatorship- Sisi. As for the Saudi’s they will purchase what ever they can from whoever they can. They also know that the ANKA is much more advanced than the Chinese counterparts. Also the TAI Anka does not come with export restrictions.
The Korean KT-1C was a stop-gap measure until the TAI Hurkus A and B trainer versions entered serial production. AFAIK the Korean KT-1C is not armed and used for CAS. Once again TAI has a large order for the Hurkus-C Armed Variant. Somalia and a few other African nations are also export potentials.
The TAI/SNC Freedom Fighter will most definitely end up in the Turkish Air Force inventory.
TAI T625 is a giant leap for the Turkish Aerospace Industry. This will be a Utility Helicopter with an indigenous Turbo-shaft engine. A full prototype will be displayed at the IDEF 2017 fair.
With regards to licensed production of 300 F-16’s it shows that Turkey has an aerospace industry. Not many countries can produce entire combat aircraft under licence.
The TRJ-328 is a derivative of the Dornier 328 but the other models in the TRJET family are not. The Dornier was acquired because it would reduce certification period with EASA.

As for most of ASELSAN subsystems being licensed produced. I do not dispute this BUT this was the reality 10 years ago. ASELSAN today fields one of the largest R&D facilities in the world for Radar technologies, electro-optics, Electronic Warfare and Avionic systems. Their investments in R&D have also resulted in significant technological leaps for Turkey. You would note Thales imports its T/R modules for various radars from ASELSAN. The ASELSAN MEHPOD EW Pod, IRIST etc are all noteworthy.

ASELSAN has not yet named it AESA radar however a prototype may be displayed at the next IDEF fair. Turkish Ministry of Defence officials visited ASELSAN facilities recently and obtained information on the AESA. A mockup was displayed at last years IDEF and it was said that a prototype will be displayed this year.

ASELSAN radar system expertise covers frequency bands L through Ka Band and encompasses advanced radar technologies such as active phased array, GaAs and GaN based Transmit/Receive Modules.
See http://www.aselsan.com.tr/en-us/capabilities/radar-systems

Please see http://www.aselsan.com.tr/en-us/press-room/Brochures/Microwave-Products/TRANSMIT_RECEIVE_MODULES_ENG_2016.pdf
for ASELSAN GaN based T/R modules.

Israel has lots of aerospace engineering but they have no aircraft industry to speak about. What they can do quite well are components (HUDs, helmets, radars, FLIR balls, avionics), upgrade kits and UAVs. They have never employed proper propulsion technology and I’d wager to say that the perishable skill of designing a complete airframe has also died years ago, as well..

The same for Turkey, let’s see if they can revive it with the TAI TFX and how much foreign content will the thing have..

Is this a joke? Turkey has no Aerospace industry?

TAI Anka UAS including Turkish engine and avionics, SAR radar, SatCom etc
TAI Hurkus-C COIN and Trainer
TAI/SNC Freedom Trainer (currently tendering for US T-X Trainer program)
TAI T625 Utility Helicopter including indigenous Turbo-shaft engine
Licensed Production of 300 F-16’s
TR-JET Regional Jet

As for foreign content in the TF-X you might be surprised to note that Turkish companies have designed, developed and are producing an indigenous AESA Radar with indigenous TR modules and GaN, IRIST, EW Pods, Targeting and Navigations Pods with Turkish optics!

I could go on…

[QUOTE=Spitfire9;2374065]Yes, that is possible. Many would see that as risky, too, due to Turkey being somewhat unstable (got a civil war going on; recent attempted coup d’état; head of state altering constitution to something more like dictatorship). And what if the Islamic fundamentalists (no freedom except what Sharia allows) gain power in Turkey? Will agreements with infidels continue?

Thats correct. Right now no one in Europe is considering the TF-X. But I didn’t assert this. I said once BAE Systems and TAI complete the pre-design phase European nations may decide to join the TF-X program.

There is zero geopolitical risk in Turkey

No civil war in Turkey– just a war on communist terrorist groups seeking to carve out communist territories.
Coup– product of Turkey shifting to Russia and China due to Obama’s incompetence vis-a-vis Syria. Western Intelligence agencies will not make another attempt at overthrowing Erdogan as this would then solidify Turkey’s exit from NATO. He is too powerful as he enjoys popular support at home. The Trump Administration also has good relations with the current Turkish Government. Trump also has business ties with Erdogan’s business associates.
Islamic fundamentalism– Turkey is the last country to succumb to Islamic fundamentalism. The Turks hate the British created Wahhabism. They blame it for the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire (Laurence of Arabia). The Turks also practice a different form of Islam to the majority of the Islamic world. They were also an Islamic Caliphate for in excess of 700 years just only 100 years ago. Their Ottoman caliphate gave refuge to Sephardi Jews fleeing the Spanish Inquisition and were one of the first countries in the world to legalise homosexuality. Even well before the Western world.
Constitutional changes– Turkey is holding a referendum on whether Turkey should become a Presidential Republic like the USA and France or remain a Parliamentary democracy. The proposed Constitutional changes are identical word for word with the US Constitution. Hardly, akin to a dictatorship unless one asserts that the US Presidential system is also undemocratic.