Prof. Dr. Haluk Görgün, President of Defense Industries, met with the test pilots and the project team after the first flight of the National Fighter Aircraft KAAN
SSB President Görgün: "Our work is just beginning. Today is a milestone, the beginning of our new goals"
KAAN's Pilot Barbaros Demirbaş: "If we have lifted the plane, we will fly it, if we have flown it, we will land it, and if we have landed it, we will stop it. We did the mission safely."
Within the scope of the National Combat Aircraft KAAN Project, which was initiated by the Presidency of the Presidency of Defense Industries in order to meet the combat aircraft needs of the Air Force Command and developed by Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI), the first flight was successfully carried out.
After the first flight, Görgün met with the Test Pilots and the Project Team, congratulated the team and noted that this success is just the beginning, and that we have a busy period ahead of us on the road to our goals.
The production activities of KAAN, which has all the capabilities of the 5th Generation Fighter Aircraft, such as high maneuverability, low radar visibility, avionic architecture open to development, increased situational awareness, precision targeting and interoperability, started in March 2022.
Component assemblies were completed between May and November 2022, and the final assembly line was commissioned in November 2022. Following the intensive system tests carried out in December 2022 and January 2023, the aircraft exited the hangar ahead of schedule on February 10, 2023, and the first engine start-up was carried out on February 12, 2023.
On March 17, 2023, the first slow taxi tests were successfully completed, and pre-flight tests were completed by carrying out the necessary reinforcement activities until the first flight.
In addition, for the configuration to be delivered to the Air Force Command, aircraft and system requirements were defined, air and system functions were determined and the preliminary design phase was completed.
KAAN made its first flight today, staying in the air for 13 minutes and reaching an altitude of 8000 feet and a speed of 230 knots.
(cited from Savunma SanayiST)