Turkey Releases Imagery Of Second Prototype Of Kaan Fighter

Turkey’s Defense Industries Agency, SSB, released the first imagery of the almost completed second prototype of the indigenous Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) Kaan fighter on Feb. 13.

Aircraft P1 was presented to SSB’s head Haluk Gorgun alongside a new ground test vehicle and aircraft P0, the engineering prototype that was adapted to fly and made two flights in 2024.

The P1 aircraft appears virtually complete externally, albeit unpainted and with several panels around the lower sections of the vertical stabilizer yet to be fitted. Its two General Electric F110 engines have also been installed.

Several minor design tweaks have been made, including the repositioning of the air intakes farther back behind the cockpit rather than just below the midpoint of the cockpit on P0. The intakes have also been significantly enlarged. Just in front of the canopy is a faceted aperture for the Aselsan Karat infrared search and track (IRST), while under the nose is another faceted fairing for the Toygun electro-optical targeting system, which appears to be fitted. It is unclear whether the aircraft features the Murad active electronically scanned array radar, but the radome lacks a pitot tube.

The imagery also suggests possible repositioning of the main landing gear to provide a wider track, which would require some internal redesign compared to P0, but this is yet to be confirmed.

First flight for P1 is planned for no later than June, Turkish Aerospace CEO Mehmet Demiroglu told Aviation Week at the World Defense Show 2026 this week in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, but was more likely to take place in May.

The appearance of all three aircraft together inside the hangar which houses the Kaan final assembly line comes just days after TAI’s hopes for additional investment in the program by Saudi Arabia were dashed when a long-awaited memorandum of understanding was not signed. But the company is optimistic that Riyadh will invest in the program in the coming months. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan signposted potential Saudi involvement after meeting Crown Prince and Prime Minister Prince Mohammed bin Salman in early February.

SSB released the images on social media along with a statement declaring that contracting processes for the delivery of the first Kaan aircraft to the Turkish Air Force were not underway and that domestic engine developments and phased capability enhancements were being “pursued with determination.”

“The Kaan program has become one of the most concrete indicators of the technological depth and institutional coordination strength our country has achieved in aviation,” Gorgun said.

Most of the aircraft’s components have been sourced locally, except for key systems such as the ejection seat and engines. The prototypes are expected to use the F110 engine until an indigenous powerplant is ready in the 2030s. TAI currently has 10 F110 engines for use in the six planned prototypes. Turkish Aerospace’s plan calls for the first 20-40 aircraft to use the F110 until a domestic engine—known as TF35000—is ready to be integrated. The engine is being developed jointly by TUSAS (the Turkish acronym for Turkish Aerospace Industries) Engine Industries and TRMotor.

The Turkish air force wants the twin-engine, 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 before the end of the decade.