Türkiye 'far ahead' of Europe on 6th-gen jets, TAI chief says

TAI Chief Executive Mehmet Demiroglu said on Monday that Türkiye has moved ahead of European manufacturers in sixth-generation fighter development, declaring that the indigenous Kaan combat aircraft has already taken flight while rival continental programs remain stalled.

Speaking at a conference hosted at the Turkish Embassy in Berlin, Demiroglu contrasted the February 2024 maiden flight of the Kaan with the delayed Tempest and Future Combat Air System initiatives pursued by European consortiums. He noted that while those programs have struggled to advance, Turkish Aerospace Industries has delivered 13 unique platforms since 2005 and expanded its Ankara headquarters into a 4-million-square-meter campus employing 16,300 people.

Global supply chain and space assets

The CEO highlighted TAI's growing role in global civil aviation, stating that the manufacturer has become a staple supplier of critical structural components for nearly every Airbus aircraft currently in operation. He also pointed to the company's newly established space center in Somalia as a strategic asset that will secure Türkiye's launch independence amid an intensifying global space race.

Reversing the brain drain

Demiroglu addressed workforce trends, stating that the loss of skilled labor to emigration during the early 2020s has reversed direction. "Far more workers are returning to Türkiye and TAI in particular than leaving," he said, citing the company's operation of Europe's second-largest subsonic wind tunnel as evidence of the sector's maturing infrastructure.