Jakarta’s acquisition makes the South Asian nation the first export customer for the KAAN fighter.
Turkey and Indonesia are officially in business. In late July, Jakarta signed a contract to procure 48 KAAN fighter jets from Ankara. Indonesia’s Defense Ministry announced the acquisition plans, cementing the nation’s latest efforts geared toward modernizing its aerial capabilities. Although Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced this potential deal back in June, the contract was not finalized until Jakarta’s recent confirmation. According to the contract, the KAAN fighter aircraft will be delivered to Indonesia in phases over the next decade. Representing Turkey’s first homegrown combat aircraft, the KAAN fighter is expected to exhibit fifth-generation capabilities when officially introduced. Jakarta’s acquisition of the platform makes the South Asian nation the first export customer for the new fighter.
“This signature is not merely an export milestone – it marks the beginning of a new era in engineering, production, and technology sharing,” Turkey’s Secretariat of Defense Industries said in a statement. Indonesia is also looking to other nations to bolster its aerial defense. In addition to its KAAN deal, Jakarta is codeveloping the South Korean KF-21 platform. The South Asian nation also has committed to procure 42 Rafale fighter jets from France’s Dassault Aviation. In 2022, Jakarta also signed a memorandum of understanding with Boeing to potentially purchase up to two dozen F-15EX fighter jets.
An Overview of the KAAN
The KAAN’s origin story dates back to 2010, when Ankara first envisioned a domestically produced fighter capable of operating alongside the F-35 Lightning II platform. However, Turkey was nixed from the Joint Strike Fighter codevelopment group years later, rendering its need for a homegrown fifth-generation fighter more severe. Local company Turkish Aerospace Industries secured the contract to develop the fighter series in 2016, with BAE Systems participating in an assisting role. Although the exact details pertaining to the KAAN design remain a mystery, the fighter is meant to exhibit the qualities of a fifth-generation platform. From advanced internal weapons, networked drone control, and ground attack functions, the KAAN will host similar capabilities to its fifth-generation, foreign near-peers. Like the F-35, the Turkish jet will be able to fly in air-to-air missions.
In terms of power, the KAAN has undergone several modifications over its development trajectory. Originally, Turkish officials submitted a request to the Pentagon for joint production of the General Electric F110 engine. Rolls-Royce also went back and forth in contributing to the platform’s engine. However, earlier this year, the president of Turkey’s Defense Industry Agency noted that by 2030, the KAAN would fly with a fully homegrown engine. The TF35000 is set to serve as the platform’s engine once it completes testing. As detailed by Army Recognition, “Designed with an emphasis on delivering 35,000 pounds of thrust, the engine incorporates advanced aerospace engineering features including high-temperature-resistant superalloys, advanced thermal barrier coatings, and innovative cooling technologies.”
In addition to becoming a fifth-generation fighter manufacturer, Turkey has ramped up its domestic production of unmanned aerial drones (UAVs) in recent years. Notably, the Bayraktar TB2 drone series is considered one of the most popular lethal UAVs in use today.
About the author: Maya Carlin
Maya Carlin, National Security Writer with The National Interest, is an analyst with the Center for Security Policy and a former Anna Sobol Levy Fellow at IDC Herzliya in Israel. She has bylines in many publications, including The National Interest, The Jerusalem Post, and The Times of Israel. You can follow her on Twitter: @MayaCarlin.
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