Although the Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) Hürjet single-engine jet trainer is still under development, the Spanish Air Force signed the procurement of 24 aircraft shortly before Christmas. With the still open successor to the Saab Saab 105OE, which was discontinued in 2020 of the German Armed Forces but the high-wing aircraft has no role to play.
The air force assessed the supersonic jet with afterburner as “too close to the primary system” (Eurofighter). In addition, the Hürjet was not yet in service according to the project intention for trainer procurement from May 2023 and was only available in the form of two prototypes. The second prototype only completed its maiden flight on November 12, 2023, and an initial Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the export of the Hürjet by the manufacturer TAI followed on December 20.
The Spanish Air Force (Ejército del Aire) plans to use the Turkish trainer to replace its outdated fleet of 19 SF-5M Freedom Trainers in Talavera La Real by 2028. The evaluation of the first prototype at the Torrejón airbase near Madrid on July 28 was decisive for the choice of type. Later, a Spanish delegation also traveled to TAI near Ankara to further test the capabilities of the Hürjet. The involvement of the Spanish aerospace company Artificial from Cádiz in the Hürjet project is also likely to be a decisive factor. On April 3, the company was awarded a two-stage contract worth a good 2.5 million euros for the manufacture of active and passive flight control components and is likely to participate further in the program as a result of the procurement that has now taken place.
Haluk Gorgun, the Minister of Turkish Defense Industry (SSB), emphasized the importance of the agreement: “We continue to intensify cooperation with our allies in the defense industry and share our national and domestic technologies with friendly countries. Today, we are proud to witness another historic milestone. The signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between SSB and our longtime NATO ally Spain forms the basis for cooperation in the ‘Jet Training Aircraft’ project. It underlines Turkey’s vision to develop independent technologies and stands for the close partnership with friendly and allied countries. I would like to thank the dedicated teams of SSB, TAI as well as our Ambassador in Madrid and the Military Attaché of the Turkish Armed Forces in Spain who contributed to this success.”
Müttefiklerimizle savunma sanayiindeki iş birliğimizi güçlendirmeye, ürettiğimiz milli ve yerli teknolojilerimizi dost ülkelerle paylaşmaya devam ediyoruz. 🇹🇷🤝🇪🇸
Bugün, savunma sanayiindeki tarihi adımlarımızdan birine daha şahitlik etmenin gururunu yaşıyoruz. NATO’daki kadim… pic.twitter.com/qfJ1t9bCVl
– Prof. Dr. Haluk Görgün (@halukgorgun) December 20, 2024
According to as yet unconfirmed reports, Spain is to supply the Turkish Air Force with six A400M transport aircraft in return for the 24 Hürjets (-> The A400M continues to struggle with problems) from its own production. These aircraft are still to be built, are not actually needed by the Spanish Air Force and could be used by Turkey to increase its A400M fleet, which currently consists of ten aircraft, as has been planned for some time. Such a mix of local value creation and a potential barter transaction could – even if it does not completely replace financial transactions – be beneficial for both parties.
TAI plans to start series production of the Hürjet in 2025, with the first deliveries scheduled for the period 2025 to 2026. The Turkish Air Force has initially ordered four Hürjets and plans to purchase a further twelve aircraft in a second tranche. The first four aircraft are to be delivered right at the start of production between 2025 and 2026, with the twelve Block 1 variants to follow by 2028. The “Turkish Stars” aerobatic team, which currently operates F-5A/Bs, will receive twelve Hürjets, and a total of 60 outdated F-5/T-38s are to be gradually replaced with the new trainer in the country. TAI has already signed an agreement with GE Aerospace for the delivery of 100 F404-GE-102 turbofan engines for the Hürjet. On October 21, the first prototype completed a first successful supersonic flight of 38 minutes, followed by the maiden flight of the second prototype on November 12. The latter, already configured as a light combat aircraft for the THK, is scheduled for delivery from 2026.
The Turkish Navy is also showing great interest in a maritime variant of the Hürjet, which could be used as a supplement to planned UCAVs such as Anka (-> stealth combat drone Anka-3 in the air) and Kizilelma on a future “real” aircraft carrier (with the “TCG Anadolu”, the Turkish Navy currently “only” has one drone carrier in its inventory).
