Following KAAN’s second flight, Haluk Görgün, President of the Defense Industry Agency, met with test pilots and the project team.
Görgün expressed gratitude for being able to witness another historic moment together.
Excited and proud, Görgün said, “We witnessed another important day in Turkish aviation and defense history. Our manned combat aircraft completed its second flight today. It completed its first flight on February 21st, as planned and successfully. We completed the preparations for the second flight this morning, after evaluating and analyzing the data from the first flight.
Görgün indicated that the second flight was as successful as the first one, saying:
“The entire team will evaluate the data collected during this flight, and we will continue to prepare for the next flights. I wish it success and good luck. I thank all our employees, engineers, pilots, and test pilots who contributed, and I wish our nation good luck. Of course, everyone was incredibly excited; from the early hours of the morning, everyone was praying on one hand and hoping for that first takeoff and landing on the other hand. Fortunately, there was a great atmosphere, and all the employees and contributors made an effort to be here. We all experienced this moment together. I wish it success and good luck.”
KAAN made its first flight in its new painted version
KAAN, which has all the capabilities of 5th generation fighter jets, such as high maneuverability, low radar visibility, open avionic architecture for development, enhanced situational awareness, precise targeting, and interoperability, began its production activities in March 2022.
Component assemblies were completed between May and November 2022, and the final assembly line was commissioned in November 2022. After conducting intensive system tests in December 2022 and January 2023, we executed the hangar exit ahead of schedule on February 10, 2023, and conducted the first engine run on February 12, 2023. Slow taxi tests were successfully completed on March 17, 2023. The period leading up to the first flight conducted strengthening activities and completed pre-flight tests. The indigenous combat aircraft KAAN made its first flight on February 21, 2024.
Simultaneously, aircraft and system requirements for the configuration to be delivered to the Air Force Command were defined, air and system functions were determined, and the preliminary design phase was completed.
The technical specifications of KAAN, which made its first flight in its new painted version, include:
“Maximum cruising speed: 1.8 Mach. Ceiling altitude: 55,000 feet. Power limits: +9g/-3.5g. Internal weapon bay. Supercruise capability. Low radar signature. Multi-mission profile. Air-to-air capability. Air-to-ground capability.”
