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Turkish Aerospace Industries

Turkish Aerospace Industries Inc. (, TAI or TUSAŞ) is a state-owned<[6] arms company in Turkey.

History

On 16 August 1925 the Turkish Aircraft and Engine Limited Company factory was founded in Kayseri, Turkey.<[7] The company received its current name in 1973 and was incorporated into the Ministry of Industry and Technology of Turkey to reduce the "foreign dependence" of the country's defense industry.<[8]<[9]

Their first project was to make the new F-16 from the US ready for the Turkish Air Force. In 1984 the US companies Lockheed Martin and General Electric joined in, with TAI producing its first F-16 in 1987.<[10] TAI produced 240 F-16 aircraft for Turkey and assembled 46 F-16s for the Egyptian Air Force in the 1980s and 1990s.<[11]

In 2005 Turkish private persons and Turkish companies bought the shares of Lockheed Martin and General Electric. The new owner agreed to return the company to state control.

In 2022, the "Iron Bird" aircraft production test facility was built by TAI for the first time in Türkiye.<[12] TAI increased its staff by 10,000 between 2015 and 2025, reaching a total of 17,000, including 7,000 engineers and 6,000 technicians.<[5]<[13] TAI made $3 billion in sales in 2024, becoming Türkiye's 11th largest industrial enterprise.<[14]

On 23 October 2024 an attack was launched on the company's offices in Kahramankazan, Ankara Province, leaving five people dead and 22 others injured.<[15] The two perpetrators of the attacks were also killed. Later, the PKK admitted to committing the assault.<[16]

Projects

TAI, which had a single program (the co-production of the F-16 Fighting Falcon) at its establishment phase, is working on over 50 military and commercial programs today. As a partner of the Airbus Defence and Space, TAI has been participating in the design and development activities of the Airbus A400M program with the leading European aerospace companies; namely Airbus (France, Germany, Spain and UK), EADS CASA (Spain) and FLABEL (Belgium) from the beginning of the project. TAI has accepted the production of A350XWB's winglets with the new cooperation.

TAI's experience includes the licensed production of General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon jets, CASA/IPTN CN-235 light transport/maritime patrol/surveillance aircraft, SIAI-Marchetti SF.260 trainers, Cougar AS-532 search and rescue (SAR), combat search and rescue (CSAR) and utility helicopters as well as the design and development of Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), target drones and agricultural aircraft.

TAI manufactures Section 18 fuselage panels for Airbus 319/320/321 aircraft, wing tips and flight deck panels for Boeing 737 aircraft,< rear doors and engine cowlings for Eurocopter EC135 helicopters, MD 902 fuselage for MD Helicopters, horizontal stabilizers, tail rotor pylons and tail booms for Sikorsky S-70A and MH-60 helicopters, horizontal stabilizers for Sikorsky S-76 helicopters and AB139 fuselages for Agusta.< Furthermore, TAI manufactures nose landing gear doors for the Boeing 747, dorsal fin for 777 and parts/subassembly parts for 737/767/777. It also manufactures seven components of the Eurocopter AS 532 helicopter.

TAI is engaged in manufacturing aerostructures for fixed and rotary wing, military and commercial aircraft for worldwide customers. TAI is in various partnership arrangements with AgustaWestland, Airbus, Alenia Aermacchi, Boeing, IAI, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, MD Helicopters, Sikorsky, Indonesian Aerospace and numerous other companies in aerospace sector.

TAI's core business also includes modernization, modification and systems integration programs and after sales support of both fixed and rotary wing military and commercial aircraft that are in the inventory of Turkey and its allies.

National Products Projects

Since the 2010s, TAI has focused on developing domestic products. Priority was given to unmanned aerial systems. In 2010, the unmanned aerial vehicle Anka was produced and its first flight was made. In 2013, the turboprop training aircraft Hürkuş was produced and its first flight was made. In 2018, the T625 Gökbey utility helicopter was produced and its first flight was made. In 2019, the first flight of the twin-engine Aksungur, an advanced version of Anka, took place. In 2023, TAI realized two major projects. Hürjet, the first Turkish jet trainer fighter aircraft, and the Anka-3, a jet-powered stealth unmanned combat aerial vehicle, made their first flights in 2023. In 2024, TAI's fifth-generation stealth fighter aircraft project, Kaan, made its first flight.

TAI, as a major partner, has initiated numerous domestic engine projects through Tusaş Engine Industries (TEI), the engine company it established in collaboration with GE Aerospace. The company has produced the PD170 engine for unmanned aerial vehicles, the TS1400 engine for helicopters, and the TF6000 engine for jet aircraft. In 2025, the TF35000 project was announced for the Kaan fifth-generation fighter jet.<[17]

TAI's Hürkuş basic trainer aircraft has been granted air worthiness type certification, the company announced at the 2016 Farnborough International Airshow.

Other projects

In May 2015 the Turkish regional jet project was launched, which consisted of the indigenous production of two regional aircraft in different sizes. The 32-seat TRJ-328 jet with a range up to 2000 nmi was planned to enter service in 2019. It was a Fairchild Dornier 328JET-based, modernized aircraft with new cockpit and engines. The larger, 70-seat TRJ-628 jet would be ready in 2023.<< The project has since been cancelled.

Turkish Aerospace/TUSAS produced 46 F-16s for the Egyptian Air Force between 1993 and 1995 under the agreement signed between the Governments of Turkey and the Arab Republic of Egypt.<[18]<[19]<[20]<[21] A contract to produce 46 Block 40 F-16C/D's for the Egyptian Air Force was placed with TUSAS Aerospace Industries (TAI) of Turkey. 34 of them will be F-16C's, 12 will be F-16D's. This was carried out under the auspices of the Peace Vector IV program, and marked the first sale of a foreign-built Fighting Falcon to a third-party nation in the history of the F-16 program.<[22]

In June 2024 news media reported that TAI was responsible for introducing questionable titanium into the supply chain for aircraft parts which ultimately were used to manufacture some Boeing and Airbus passenger planes built between 2019 and 2023.< The titanium sold by TAI included falsified authenticity documents that originated from a metals supplier in China, calling into question whether the titanium was of suitable aviation-grade. However, Spirit's testing has confirmed that the titanium is the appropriate grade for airplane manufacturers.

Major programs

  • Electronic warfare retrofit and structural modifications on Turkish Air Force (TuAF) F-16s.<
  • MLU, Falcon-Up and Falcon Star Modifications on the Royal Jordanian Air Force (RJAF) F-16s,<
  • Modifications of 41 F-16A/B Block 15 aircraft of the Pakistan Air Force to F-16AM/BM Block 15 MLU standard.
  • Modification of the S-2E Tracker Maritime Patrol Aircraft into Fire Fighting Aircraft
  • CN-235 and Black Hawk modifications for the Turkish Special Forces
  • Modification of CN-235 platforms for MPA/MSA missions for the Turkish Navy and Coast Guard
  • Modification and modernization of Eurocopter AS 532,<
  • Glass Cockpit Retrofit of S-70 helicopters,<
  • Conversion of B737-700 aircraft AEW&C aircraft,<
  • Avionics modernization of C-130 aircraft for the Turkish Air Force (TuAF),<
  • Production and Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) of the center fuselage of Joint Strike Fighter F-35 aircraft,<<
  • Participating in the design and development of the A400M military transport and tanker aircraft,<
  • Avionics modernization of T-38 aircraft for the TuAF,<
  • License production of the attack helicopter Agusta A129 Mangusta as T-129 for the Turkish Armed Forces (TAF).<
  • Design, development and production of TAI Hürkuş (Turkish Primary and Basic Training Aircraft) with EASA CS-23 certification.<
  • Design, development and production of Anka unmanned aerial vehicle for the TuAF.<

Products

Aircraft

  • TAI Kaan, stealth twin-engine all-weather fifth generation air superiority fighter
  • TAI Hürjet, advanced jet trainer and light attack aircraft
  • TAI Hürkuş, two-seat, single engine, turboprop aircraft for training and ground attack<
  • TAI General Aviation Aircraft, for airline pilot training<[23]

Helicopters

  • TAI/AgustaWestland T129 ATAK, light attack helicopter, based on Agusta A129 Mangusta
  • TAI T629, medium attack helicopter
  • TAI T929 ATAK 2, heavy attack helicopter
  • TAI T625 Gökbey, light utility helicopter
  • TAI T-70, medium utility helicopter, Turkish variants of Sikorsky S-70i
  • TAI T925, heavy utility helicopter

Unmanned aerial vehicles

  • TAI Aksungur MALE ISTAR
  • TAI Anka-A (TIHA-A) (2013), MALE ISTAR UAV
  • TAI Anka-B (TIHA-B) (2013), MALE UAV
  • TAI Anka-S, MALE UCAV
  • TAI Anka-3, flying wing design stealth UCAV
  • TAI Anka-4, stealth UCAV
  • TAI Baykuş (2004), tactical surveillance drone
  • TAI Gözcü (2007), short-range tactical ISTAR drone
  • TAI Keklik (2001), target drone for tracking and non-firing exercise
  • TAI Martı (2003), surveillance drone
  • TAI Pelikan (IHA-X2), tactical ISTAR drone
  • TAI Şimşek, high-speed target drone
  • TAI Turna (2001), target drone for tracking and live firing
  • TAI UAV-X1 (1982), surveillance drone

Satellites

TAI operates Turkish Satellite Assembly, Integration and Test Center.

  • Göktürk-1, Earth observation satellite
  • Göktürk-2 (launched 2012), Earth observation satellite
  • Göktürk-3 satellite
  • Türksat 6A, communications satellite

See also

External links

References

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  2. Mehmet DEMİROĞLU, Ph.D. Turkish Aerospace Industries, retrieved 10 August 2024^
  3. Turkish Aerospace: Facilities^
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  6. About Us retrieved 23 October 2024^
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  16. Turkey: Kurdish militant group behind attack on aerospace firm BBC, retrieved 26 October 2024^
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  18. EGYPT F-16 Program www.tusas.com, retrieved 2020-09-12^
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  29. The first C-130 aircraft, the avionics modernization of which will be realized by TAI, arrived at TAI's facilities tai.com.tr, 27 December 2007, retrieved 4 June 2010^
  30. TAI delivers first composite parts for F-35 reinforcedplastics.com, 5 March 2009, retrieved 4 June 2010^
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