Breaking News: Türkiye enters global fighter jet market with 48 KAAN aircraft deal for Indonesia
{loadposition bannertop}
{loadposition sidebarpub}
According to information published by Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) on July 24, 2025, during the IDEF 2025 defense exhibition in Istanbul, Türkiye has officially announced a historic defense agreement with Indonesia for the procurement of 48 KAAN fifth-generation fighter jets. The agreement includes comprehensive cooperation in production engineering, technology transfer, and local assembly, marking the largest defense export in Türkiye’s history and a defining moment for the Turkish defense industry’s entry into the global fighter aircraft market.Follow Army Recognition on Google News at this link
The KAAN is Türkiye’s first fifth-generation stealth fighter jet developed by Turkish Aerospace Industries featuring advanced avionics, AESA radar, internal weapons bays, and artificial intelligence for multirole air combat missions. (Picture source: Cem Dogut via Thunder Watch X account)
The contract for the Turkish KAAN fighter jet will involve Indonesia’s direct participation in the aircraft’s production, with joint engineering responsibilities and domestic assembly capabilities. The 10-year delivery schedule reinforces Indonesia’s commitment to self-reliant modernization and offers strategic depth to bilateral defense ties. Presidents Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Prabowo Subianto jointly endorsed the deal, which positions Türkiye as a new competitor in a global market historically dominated by the United States and European defense powers.
The KAAN is Türkiye’s first indigenous fifth-generation fighter jet, developed by Turkish Aerospace Industries under the oversight of the Presidency of Defense Industries (SSB). Designed for multirole operations in contested airspaces, the KAAN integrates low-observable features, internal weapons bays, a state-of-the-art AESA radar, AI-driven avionics, infrared search and track (IRST), and advanced electronic warfare systems. The platform completed its maiden flight on February 21, 2024, and is currently in a test campaign toward limited operational capability by 2028. Initial units are powered by U.S.-supplied GE F110 engines, with a transition planned to the domestically developed TEI-TF35000 powerplant.
Türkiye’s entry into the fighter jet export market directly challenges the long-standing dominance of Western manufacturers, including the U.S. with its F-35 Lightning II, France with the Dassault Rafale, and the Eurofighter consortium with the Typhoon. All three aircraft have been heavily promoted across Asia and the Middle East. Indonesia previously considered both Rafale and Eurofighter options but ultimately selected the KAAN due to its long-term co-production potential, technological independence, and balanced geopolitical alignment.
The scale and structure of the KAAN deal illustrate a broader shift in global defense procurement strategies. Countries like Indonesia are seeking high-performance fighter platforms that come with full technology access, industrial participation, and minimal foreign policy constraints. Türkiye’s offering stands out by delivering advanced capabilities while treating partners as strategic collaborators rather than end-users under export restrictions.
Indonesia’s involvement in the KAAN program comes in parallel with reduced investment in South Korea’s KF-21 Boramae fighter, where Jakarta’s contributions fell short of initial financial and industrial expectations. In contrast, the KAAN provides a faster development path toward fifth-generation performance, with greater local benefits and strategic leverage.
This agreement also strengthens Türkiye’s expanding defense footprint, following successful exports of its UAV systems such as the Bayraktar TB2 and Akıncı. With multiple other nations—such as Pakistan, Azerbaijan, and Gulf countries—expressing interest in the KAAN, the Indonesian contract could mark the start of a broader shift in the global fighter jet landscape.
Through this milestone agreement announced at IDEF 2025, Türkiye affirms its position as a rising aerospace power and introduces the KAAN as a competitive, sovereign alternative to Western-origin fighter jets on the international stage.
{loadposition bannertop}
{loadposition sidebarpub}
According to information published by Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) on July 24, 2025, during the IDEF 2025 defense exhibition in Istanbul, Türkiye has officially announced a historic defense agreement with Indonesia for the procurement of 48 KAAN fifth-generation fighter jets. The agreement includes comprehensive cooperation in production engineering, technology transfer, and local assembly, marking the largest defense export in Türkiye’s history and a defining moment for the Turkish defense industry’s entry into the global fighter aircraft market.
Follow Army Recognition on Google News at this link
The KAAN is Türkiye’s first fifth-generation stealth fighter jet developed by Turkish Aerospace Industries featuring advanced avionics, AESA radar, internal weapons bays, and artificial intelligence for multirole air combat missions. (Picture source: Cem Dogut via Thunder Watch X account)
The contract for the Turkish KAAN fighter jet will involve Indonesia’s direct participation in the aircraft’s production, with joint engineering responsibilities and domestic assembly capabilities. The 10-year delivery schedule reinforces Indonesia’s commitment to self-reliant modernization and offers strategic depth to bilateral defense ties. Presidents Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Prabowo Subianto jointly endorsed the deal, which positions Türkiye as a new competitor in a global market historically dominated by the United States and European defense powers.
The KAAN is Türkiye’s first indigenous fifth-generation fighter jet, developed by Turkish Aerospace Industries under the oversight of the Presidency of Defense Industries (SSB). Designed for multirole operations in contested airspaces, the KAAN integrates low-observable features, internal weapons bays, a state-of-the-art AESA radar, AI-driven avionics, infrared search and track (IRST), and advanced electronic warfare systems. The platform completed its maiden flight on February 21, 2024, and is currently in a test campaign toward limited operational capability by 2028. Initial units are powered by U.S.-supplied GE F110 engines, with a transition planned to the domestically developed TEI-TF35000 powerplant.
Türkiye’s entry into the fighter jet export market directly challenges the long-standing dominance of Western manufacturers, including the U.S. with its F-35 Lightning II, France with the Dassault Rafale, and the Eurofighter consortium with the Typhoon. All three aircraft have been heavily promoted across Asia and the Middle East. Indonesia previously considered both Rafale and Eurofighter options but ultimately selected the KAAN due to its long-term co-production potential, technological independence, and balanced geopolitical alignment.
The scale and structure of the KAAN deal illustrate a broader shift in global defense procurement strategies. Countries like Indonesia are seeking high-performance fighter platforms that come with full technology access, industrial participation, and minimal foreign policy constraints. Türkiye’s offering stands out by delivering advanced capabilities while treating partners as strategic collaborators rather than end-users under export restrictions.
Indonesia’s involvement in the KAAN program comes in parallel with reduced investment in South Korea’s KF-21 Boramae fighter, where Jakarta’s contributions fell short of initial financial and industrial expectations. In contrast, the KAAN provides a faster development path toward fifth-generation performance, with greater local benefits and strategic leverage.
This agreement also strengthens Türkiye’s expanding defense footprint, following successful exports of its UAV systems such as the Bayraktar TB2 and Akıncı. With multiple other nations—such as Pakistan, Azerbaijan, and Gulf countries—expressing interest in the KAAN, the Indonesian contract could mark the start of a broader shift in the global fighter jet landscape.
Through this milestone agreement announced at IDEF 2025, Türkiye affirms its position as a rising aerospace power and introduces the KAAN as a competitive, sovereign alternative to Western-origin fighter jets on the international stage.
