The company Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI / TUSAŞ) completed the assembly of the third prototype of the future TF-X KAAN fighter intended for the Turkish Air Force, as part of the national combat aircraft program. The announcement was made following an official visit to the facilities in Ankara, where the full-scale static test prototype and the flight development aircraft were displayed in the same hangar, demonstrating simultaneous progress in the validation phases and preparation for serial production.
The President of Türkiye’s Defense Industry Agency (Savunma Sanayii Başkanlığı – SSB), Haluk Görgün, toured TAI’s facilities and provided details on the status of the program. “Our aircraft, which will be used for full-scale static testing, will be in the same frame together with our second prototype, which will carry out its subsequent flight after the first prototype that completed its initial flights upon exiting the hangar. This represents an important technical milestone and stands before us as a concrete indicator of the effort of thousands of people,” Görgün stated.
The KAAN program aims to develop a fifth-generation fighter that will operate for decades in the Turkish Air Force inventory, incorporating low observability capabilities, internal weapons bays, advanced avionics architecture with sensor fusion, enhanced situational awareness, and network-enabled operations. It also includes electronic warfare systems and the capability to conduct air-to-air and air-to-surface missions, while in parallel the contractual process has begun for the future delivery of the aircraft to the air force command.
In September 2025, TAI had confirmed that it was advancing in the assembly of two new TF-X KAAN prototypes on its final assembly line in Ankara, with first flights scheduled for April and May 2026. The company’s general manager, Mehmet Demiroglu, stated at the time that those flights would mark “the beginning of intensive flight testing,” and specified that the new aircraft would incorporate most of the mission systems planned for the operational version, unlike the initial P0 prototype, which conducted two flights in 2024. In total, the program envisions the construction of six prototypes to sustain the test campaign.
Recent audiovisual material made it possible to identify prototypes P1 and P2 inside TAI’s hangar, where modifications compared to P0 can be observed. Among the detected changes are the repositioning of the air intakes to a more rearward position beneath the cockpit line, adjustments to the aft fuselage geometry, partial relocation of the main landing gear, and increased separation between the engines—configurations aimed at optimizing internal space for sensors and weapons bays. The images also show the Tulgar Helmet-Mounted Display (HMD) developed by ASELSAN integrated into the cockpit of the prototype identified as P1.
The two new prototypes are scheduled to begin testing in 2026, while Türkiye advances in the development of an indigenous engine to replace the U.S.-origin powerplants used in the first aircraft. The general manager of TR Motor, Osman Saim Dinç, the company responsible for developing the TF-35000 engine, stated: “We consider the engine project a matter of national survival,” referring to the strategic importance of technological autonomy within the KAAN program.
*Cover image for illustrative purposes.
*Translated by Constanza Matteo
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