ANKARA, Turkey—The first of the next two prototypes of Turkey’s Kaan indigenous combat aircraft has moved into the system integration phase ahead of plans to fly in spring 2026.
Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) officials said the two prototypes are in an advanced state of structural assembly and work is underway on system integration in the company’s Kaan final assembly line here in Ankara. A ground test vehicle also is in production.
The unnamed officials spoke to Aviation Week on Aug. 28 during an international media tour of the country’s defense industry organized by the Turkish government.
They would not be drawn on the timelines for assembly and first flight, but TAI’s general manager, Mehmet Demiroglu, speaking on a panel Aug. 29, said flights for the two aircraft would take place in April and May 2026, kicking off “the beginning of intensive flight testing.”
The two prototypes are expected to be significantly more complete internally compared to the P0 Kaan prototype that made two flights in 2024, with the aircraft featuring more of the mission systems to be associated with the operational aircraft.
In all, six prototypes are planned to support flight testing. The new prototypes are being built on the newly completed Kaan assembly line, which sees several major component assemblies built vertically or upright, including the 14-m (46-ft.)-span, 3.3-metric-ton wing and center fuselage section.
In a presentation to journalists, the company also stated there is an initial requirement for 148 Kaan aircraft, but it is unclear whether this figure includes the 48 aircraft that Indonesia has signed up to acquire or whether this only represents initial Turkish Air Force needs.
The Turkish Air Force wants the 34-metric-ton fighter to replace its large fleet of Lockheed Martin F-16s in the coming years, with the first batch of around 20 aircraft reaching Turkish Air Force service in 2029. These Blk. 10 aircraft will have a limited operational envelope that will be expanded as testing progresses. TAI’s Ankara factory will be able to output eight aircraft per year, but officials are now mulling the scale of the facilities that will be required to achieve full-rate production.
Demiroglu also stated that the company is beginning to explore requirements for a sixth-generation fighter. “We may not be the first [in terms of developing a sixth-generation fighter]but we will be a pioneer. TAI is in the Ph.D stage of its life—doing something it has never done before,” Demiroglu told the panel session.
