TR F-16 Özgür | Hürkuş - Fighter Trainer Aircraft Projects

dBSPL

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I was imagining AKBABA as a bigger missile, I think it has a silhouette quite close to the existing AGM-88 HARMs. In this case, there is still no shared geometry for a Ramjet-propelled anti-radiation missile.
 

Strong AI

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Just imagine, ANKA-III doing SEAD/DEAD with AKBABA and CAKIR/SIMSEK, KIZILELMA doing CAP with GÖKHAN and KAAN watching their back like a proud dad.
IMHO enemy forces need to invest heavily in their Airforces, not in SAMs.
 

hoz

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Turkish officials have announced today that domestic modernization of the first F16 fighter has just been completed.
If Turkish arms industry has such capability, why did Turkey want so badly to order block-70 modernization from the US?
 

Heartbang

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Turkish officials have announced today that domestic modernization of the first F16 fighter has just been completed.
If Turkish arms industry has such capability, why did Turkey want so badly to order block-70 modernization from the US?
Purely bureaucratic.
Equipment bought from US cannot be modified for 30 years. Block 30's are past that line, Block 50's are not(yet).

But since the US is being such a heel, Block 50's might also get the same treatment earlier.
 

Azeri441

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This has probably been discussed already, but is Ozgur flying with Aselsan AESA radar?
 

Heartbang

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I've been hearing this for quite some time now but I think it's a myth. I haven't seen any official paper delineating it.
A member of this very forum delved into the relevant papers and proved it's existence before. I'm sure he'd show up.
 

Rodeo

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A member of this very forum delved into the relevant papers and proved it's existence before. I'm sure he'd show up.
Do you mean this post?

 

Lool

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Turkish officials have announced today that domestic modernization of the first F16 fighter has just been completed.
If Turkish arms industry has such capability, why did Turkey want so badly to order block-70 modernization from the US?
The reason why Turkey opted for the block-70 planes was due to the fact that the US refused to give Turkey the billions of dollars it invested when it was in the F35 program. Legally, it was Turkey's right to take its moeny back but the US refused and after a lot of bickering and threatening of taking this to court, the US offered the Turks to buy another american product worth the moeny they invested in the program
 

begturan

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Turkish officials have announced today that domestic modernization of the first F16 fighter has just been completed.
If Turkish arms industry has such capability, why did Turkey want so badly to order block-70 modernization from the US?
it is political maneuvers only our state knows what is the reasons.
 

Merzifonlu

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it is political maneuvers only our state knows what is the reasons.
Turkey's swell. ;)

All this drama will not be necessary when the TEI TF-10000 turbofan engine and Murad AESA radar enter the inventory in high numbers. We first modify Hürjet with those devices. Next, we add the KE and Anka III drones. Hürjet manages them. And so we can build a relatively cheap air force that can handle all the missions of the current F16 fleet.

There is no need to wait for national fighter Kaan, in that case.
 

Heartbang

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Do you mean this post?

Yeah. Gonna save that just in case.
 

uçuyorum

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That was my post :) and there's no 30 years time limit to the end use monitoring program, as far as i could see.
What are the repercussions though, are these absolute? Like does it void the warranty? I mean could you realistically ignore it and live with the results?
 

Chocopie

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I've been hearing this for quite some time now but I think it's a myth. I haven't seen any official paper delineating it.

@Nilgiri @Yasar @Windchime @Chocopie
Never seen such a 30 years regulation on official documents. Is the Turkish Özgür upgrade done with US approval? Always wondered about that ...

My guess is, such modification permissions are results of direct negotiations between US gov and foreign states.

As an example, Israeli F-16s had major modifications regarding airframe design and avionics:
  • F-16 A/B had software changes of mission computer and avionics to integrate Israeli made-weapons.
  • F-16 C/D had major structural changes of the airframe (done by General Dynamcis then)
  • F-16I Sufa differs fundamentally to conventional F-16s (dorsal spine compartment with Israeli "electronics equipment", Elbit mission and avionics computers etc. High suspicion that Israel received relevant source codes from the get go. As an US incentive to give up its own Lavi fighter project)
  • F-35I are also extensively different to other configurations (esp. Israeli avionics, sub-systems)

ROKAF upgrade program for KF-16 was a major clusterfuck until recently:

1. Upgrade: 35 F-16 C/D Block 32 upgraded since 2010s to Block 52 level (by Lockheed Martin for $250 mil.), no hiccups so far.

2. Upgrade: 134 KF-16 C/D Block 52 (mostly license-built by Samsung Aerospace = now KAI) contract won in 2012 by BAE Systems US subsidiary. First upgrade deal awarded to a non-OEM company for a fixed-price of $1,05 billion (AN/APG-84 AESA radar by Raytheon, new databus, Link-16 and avionics etc). Two KF-16 were already converted by BAE Systems in the USA.

Then things went sour over the years: US gov classified the deal as Foreign Military Sale and not as Direct Commercial Sale. Price hikes of $471 mil. by US gov and $282 mil. by BAE Systems for project delays resulted in $753 mil. added costs = $1,7 bil. in total!

Korean gov and public freaked out, cancelled the whole deal in 2014. BAE Systems USA sued SK gov for financial losses. Koreans went total apeshit and US-ROK relations reached a low point.

Finally in 2018 Lockheed Martin as original manufacturer obtained their upgrade contract for $1,2+ billion: now with AN/APG-83 AESA radar by Northrop Grumman and other modifications to Viper standards. Koreans are still pissed off to no end ... US "blood ally" my ass.

Good overview of said events and F-16 upgrade saga found here:
 
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