Production begins at the National Combat Aircraft
TUSAŞ General Manager Temel Kotil said, "The National Combat Aircraft will appear this year, you will see it physically, it will start the engine on March 18, 2023 and will start ground tests." said.
Goksel Yildirim |27.01.2022
Ankara
Turkish Aerospace Industries Inc. (TUSAŞ) is preparing to achieve significant successes in terms of both financial and original projects in 2022 and 2023.
TUSAŞ General Manager Temel Kotil made an assessment to the AA correspondent regarding the issues on the company's agenda and the developments in the projects carried out.
Stating that they are continuing the work for 2 Hürkuş aircraft to be exported to Niger and that they will deliver them in the summer, Kotil said, "The rest will come. We have offers to other countries." said. Expressing that they will deliver Hürkuş to the Turkish Air Force in February-March, Kotil said that they will also increase production.
Explaining that TAI is known for product development and prototypes, and that these processes are difficult and tiring, Kotil emphasized that all helicopters and airplanes, whose development work is ongoing, will come to the stage of mass production and delivery, like today's Atak helicopter and Hürkuş. Kotil said, "The future of this company is very bright. If nothing goes wrong, this company will stand out among its peers in the world." he said.
Expressing that the Hürkuş, which will be delivered to the Air Force, will be used in basic training and air-ground support missions, Kotil gave the following information:
"There are also systems that represent shots on it. In this respect, it will be multifunctional. (Works to lighten the Hürkuş) After making a product, we continue production by making different versions. It is necessary to produce better products every day. The production bench is the same, if you improve the design, it will be better. The product comes out. It will be the same for the National Combat Aircraft. Development continues as a natural process. (Armed version Hürkuş-C) That version is also being studied, but the main training aircraft we focus on is Hürkuş-B."
14 months left until the National Combat Aircraft leaves the hangar
Providing information on the latest situation in the National Combat Aircraft Project, Kotil said, "This year, the aircraft will appear, you will see it physically, it will start the engine on March 18, 2023 and will start ground tests." used the phrases.
Stating that they have completed the concept design, carried out the wind tunnel tests, completed the external geometry and detailed analysis, Kotil said, "We are starting the production of the National Combat Aircraft. We will continue the structural analysis until the aircraft is delivered in 2028, we will put new sensors. We will see its first flight on March 18, 2025. We have 14 months left, the engine will start and it will come out of the hangar. The project is going well." made its assessment.
Kotil noted that the unit where the project was carried out, while it was a small unit under the Deputy General Manager of Aircraft, has become the largest unit of the company and will grow twice as much.
Philippines delivery will be completed, the number of attacks will reach 89
Temel Kotil stated that they have delivered 69 Atak helicopters to the security forces within the scope of helicopter production and they will increase the number to 83 this year. Kotil said:
"We will also complete 6 Atak helicopters of the Philippines. Therefore, we are finishing 89 helicopters this year. We are working on how we can manufacture them abroad. Gökbey helicopter is being put into series. We are building 3 for the Gendarmerie, we will deliver them by the end of the year. We call the T70, a Sikorsky licensed Back". The production of Hawks continues. There will be a total of 109 helicopters. The helicopter equivalent of the National Combat Aircraft is the Atak-2 helicopter. It weighs 11 tons, can carry 1 ton of explosives, has a 30 millimeter cannon. The USA and the Russians have helicopters in this class. And that is 18 March 2023. We will fly it in Turkey, a very ambitious target. We are building a general-purpose helicopter with a capacity of 10 tons, carrying 21 people, and will operate behind the front."
Expressing that there is no new demand for the attack helicopter in the country, Kotil stated that they are working on Phase-2 to develop the helicopter, and that new phases may come in this regard.
Waiting for export to Pakistan continues
Temel Kotil said that they will enable Turkey and friendly countries to establish a strong fleet with the helicopters they will produce.
Commenting on the latest situation in the sale of Atak helicopters to Pakistan, Kotil said, "We are waiting for approval from the US Congress. If the engine comes, we will manufacture and supply the helicopters. Our opponent is the Chinese. It is up to the preference of the Americans, whether to sell the Atak helicopter or the Chinese helicopter to Pakistan? "They chose it because we are the owner of the engine. An export license has not yet been received for the engine. We are forwarding our demands to the US side, but there is no other decision yet." said.
Kotil stated that the first delivery of Turkey's first helicopter engine with 1600 horsepower developed by TEI is expected to be made by the end of 2024 or the beginning of 2025.
Anka is preparing for delivery to Kazakhstan
Reminding that they delivered the unmanned aerial vehicle Anka to Tunisia as part of its first export, Kotil said that they are preparing for delivery to Kazakhstan as well, and that they will do so in a few months. Expressing that they made additional offers and held talks with new countries, Kotil said, "Turkey has no dependency on UAVs at the moment. We started using the domestic engine in Anka. Turkey's dependence on foreign UAVs is zero. This is a zero good thing. Zero. We are developing Anka a little more every day. It helps Turkey and friendly countries in mass production." he said.
Explaining that they also carry out export activities on Aksungur, Kotil said, "Turkey, as Baykar and TUSAŞ, has proven itself in the world. It's up to our manufacturing ability. Demand is high, delivery is up to our production speed. We are in such a beautiful place." made its assessment.
Sharing the knowledge that the development of the high-speed target aircraft Şimşek and the design work for the supersonic speed unmanned aerial vehicle Göksungur are ongoing, Kotil emphasized that as a company, they focus on the mass production of their original products.
"Time to step on the gas"
Temel Kotil stated that due to the impact of the Kovid-19 epidemic, there were contractions in the aviation industry, especially in the field of civil aviation, that many companies were laying off staff, and that they became stronger by adding these people to their staff.
Expressing that a capacity problem emerged with the disappearance of the effects of the epidemic, Kotil said:
Mass production and aircraft structural are the part of us where we make money. Besides, you will see that our original products are finished."
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