Turkish Air Force - News & Discussion

By: medal64 - 5th January 2011 at 15:17 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00

Contract between Undersecretariet For Defence Industries and Vestel Defence Industry signed for the procurement of Vestel Karayel Tachtical UAV

Contract involves 6 Vestel Tactical UAV, 3 ground control system and 1 catapult. It sports 20h endurance, 80kg useful payload and a service ceiling of 22000 feet. It can take-off from runway and with catapult on land or ship. According to the agreement all deliveries will be completed in two years.

http://video.ntvmsnbc.com/yerli-insansiz-hava-araci.html

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http://www.worldbulletin.net/news_detail.php?id=68171
http://www.milscint.com/haberdetay.asp?haberid=1632&hid=3

By: medal64 - 5th January 2011 at 23:18 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00

More details about the first flight of the TAI Anka UAV

Turkey's homegrown UAV makes first flight

TAI says a test programme to involve three prototypes should finish at the end of this year, with the first Anka to be delivered to the Turkish armed forces in early 2012. The company is also reportedly developing an armed version of the UAV named the Anka-B.

Source: http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2011/01/04/351485/pictures-turkeys-homegrown-uav-makes-first-flight.html

By: Rookh - 10th January 2011 at 09:25 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00

Great pic. Is that the AGM-142 Have Nap on the lead Terminitor or the Israeli Popeye missile?

By: swerve - 11th January 2011 at 11:31 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00

Israeli one, i.e. Popeye.

i.e. the original rather than the US derivative.

By: medal64 - 14th January 2011 at 23:22 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00

HAVELSAN has successfully exported the first Electronic Warfare Test and Training Range (EWTTR) - 12.01.2011

HAVELSAN has delivered the Electronic Warfare Test and Training Range System to Pakistan Air Force. In July 2010 acceptance tests were successfully completed and the guarantee period was started. The Electronic Warfare Test and Training Range ceremony was conducted on January 6, 2011 with the presence of Pakistan Air Force Commander Air Chief Marshall Rao Qamar Suleman, Deputy Commander of Pakistan Air Force Air Marshall Muhammad Hassan, Undersecretary of Turkish Defense Industry Murad Bayar, General Manager of Turkish Armed Forces Foundation Hayrettin Uzun, HAVELSAN Chairman of the Board Rasim Arslan, Deputy Undersecretary of National Defense Major General Nihat Kökmen, HAVELSAN General Manager Dr. Faruk A. Yarman, Head of International Cooperation of SSM Lütfi Varolu and other senior officials in Islamabad, Pakistan.

http://www.havelsan.com.tr/Basin/ENBasinDuyurulari.aspx

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Courtesy of Faheka from militaryphotos

By: medal64 - 15th January 2011 at 19:07 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00

TAI Sivrisinek ( Mosquito ) Weaponised Unmanned Helicopter

It has already done it's first flight succesfully. It has a range of 150 km.
It will carry 2 Roketsan producton laser-guided CIRIT missiles ( 8 km range ). FLIR system made by Aselsan

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http://www.heliturk.com/haberler/askeri/sivrisinek.html

By: Pieter - 18th January 2011 at 11:22 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00

JDAMs or the planned Turkish equivalent? And what king of target designator pod, Litening?

2 x F-16C BLock 40's from 161 "Yarasa" (Bat) Filo equipped with 2 x AIM-120, 2 x AIM-9X and 2 x JDAM's

From Turkish Air Force 2011 Calendar

Photo credits: Can Yilmaz.

By: medal64 - 18th January 2011 at 14:01 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00

JDAMs or the planned Turkish equivalent? And what king of target designator pod, Litening?

Turkish targeting pod's name is Aselpod, designed and developed by the Aselsan. Turkish airforce ordered total 20 aselpod and first delivery is planning in june 2011:)

http://www.janes.com/articles/Janes-Defence-Weekly-2008/Aselsan-schedules-integration-testing-of-Aselpod-prototype.html

http://www.aselsan.com.tr/default.asp

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And the eqivalent system of the JDAM in Turkey is HGK (Hassas Gudum Kiti - Precision Guidance Kit) for Mk-84 designed and developed by Turkish Defence Institute TUBITAK-SAGE

http://www.janes.com/articles/Janes-Air-Launched-Weapons/HGK-precision-guidance-kit-Turkey.html

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By: Sahin - 19th January 2011 at 23:24 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00

The pods in the photo are LANTIRN. ASELPOD is in prototype stage, don't know if flight testing has begun or not.

HGK so far has been carried exclusively by F-4E 2020s.

The first prototype of AselPOD is now complete. We may expect to see the flight testing with a F-4E/2020 very soon. It has been a long wait for F-4E/2020 squadrons to have modern targeting pod. The current pod in use is 1970s generation Pave Spike pod. AselPOD will have 3rd generation FLIR, 40K laser degisnator/spoter/range finder, CCD camera, integrated IMU ( for GPS guided ammunition and SAR radar correlation). The integration of AselPOD will make F-4E/2020 a true day or night, all weather striker with the range of guided weapons currently in the inventory. The same pod will also be integrated with TurAF's Block-40 F-16s.

By: PLA-MKII - 22nd January 2011 at 10:03 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00

100 years of Turkish AF coming soon? :)

By: medal64 - 23rd January 2011 at 18:57 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00

100 years of Turkish AF coming soon? :)

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Activities started about the 100th year of TurAF:) IDEF 2011 international defence industry fair's main theme is also going to be the 100th year of the TurAF;)

By: Aspis - 23rd January 2011 at 20:05 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00

Problems persist with the US on fighter planes

23 January 2011, Sunday / ERCAN YAVUZ, ANKARA

Turkey is now seeking new ways to sidestep difficulties in the procurement of F-16 fighter planes and there have been serious doubts as to whether its plan to purchase 100 F-35 fighter planes would ever materialize.

Turkey is seriously reconsidering the myriad agreements it has signed with the US, as well as its participation in an international consortium for the procurement of new generation fighter jets, due to rising costs and persisting problems originating from the American side.

Turkey is now seeking new ways to sidestep difficulties in the procurement of F-16 fighter planes, which it has been jointly producing with the US since 1987, due to the delayed delivery by the US authorities of some of the plane’s parts and accessories. There have been serious doubts as to whether Turkey’s plan to purchase 100 F-35 fighter planes would ever materialize, as the country is thinking about withdrawing from the consortium following the hike in costs that resulted from other countries leaving from the consortium.

With 240 F-16s, Turkey has the third largest fleet of these fighter jets after the US and Israel. Turkey chose the F-16 to use in its air force in the early 1980s, and Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAİ) was established soon after the decision. Between 1987 and 1995, TAİ assembled 152 planes in the first phase of the F-16 project. The second phase took place between 1995 and 1999, and 80 planes were assembled. Turkey received its first overseas order for F-16 planes in 1993 from the Egyptian air force and assembled 46 planes for them.

Recently TAI upgraded the first of 17 planes for Jordan’s air force within the context of a modernization program. Several Turkey-made planes have also been dispatched to Pakistan.

In total TAİ has assembled 278 F-16s since it first began operations in 1987. During production, 29 planes were produced with no mistakes and three of them were considered “perfect.” Considering that only nine F-16 planes are produced as perfect out of 4,000 fighter jets in the world, Turkey’s success is conspicuous.

Turkey suspended production of the F-16 in 2000, but these fighter jets still remain the backbone of the Turkish armed forces.

Strained ties delayed delivery of plane accessories

As the agreement between the US and Turkey expired in 2000, Turkey has continued to work with Israel in modernizing the F-16s. Turkey has attempted to compensate for several mistakes that occurred while working with the US through several deals with Israel. The fundamental problem was that the US did not hand the F-16s directly to the Turkish Air Forces and it required TAİ-made planes be tested in the US before the eventual delivery to the Turkish Air Forces.

The US had also refused to provide source codes for the software of F-16s to Turkey since the inception of the joint production. Tensions in the relations between the US and Turkey have recently spawned a series of crises in this particular sphere, a possibility which Turkey has overlooked for years.

A senior official at the Turkish Undersecretariat for the Defense Industry (SSM) confided in Today’s Zaman that the US is not willing to provide vital parts of the F-16 planes to Turkey in contrast to agreements the two countries have signed in the past few years.

The same senior official said the US delayed the fulfillment its duties specified in the agreements it signed with Turkey between 1987 and 1995 and that this has caused serious problems in modernization of F-16s.

The official lamented that Turkey is experiencing very serious problems in obtaining parts and accessories for the planes as ties with Israel collapsed, and that he finds it noteworthy to stress that the US administration has made congressional approval a precondition of selling any sort of weaponry and military equipment.

Last October the US expressed concerns that Turkey was using US-made F-16s in the Turkey-China aerial exercises, which took place in the Central Anatolian town of Konya, but Turkey reassured the US administration that no US-made jets were used in the joint drill.

Turkey decided to modernize 165 F-16 planes on Dec. 11, 2009 and several Israeli firms were competing to win the tender, along with Turkey’s TUSAŞ and HAVELSAN. All projects between Turkey and Israel in the areas of military training and cooperation were frozen in mid-June after the lethal May 31 Israeli raid on the Mavi Marmara, which was carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza, leaving left nine civilians dead. The two countries were set to realize a $757 million plane and tank modernization project but this project was also shelved. The Turkish government decided to give the modernization tender to Turkish firms after Turkish-Israeli ties became strained.

A $240 million modernization project was given to Turkish companies, but 30 percent of the plane’s parts will be provided by the US military behemoth Lockheed Martin.

Turkey is also considering its participation in the world’s largest military consortium that is planning to produce 3,000 F-35 fighter jets. Turkey is the ninth country to take part in the production process of the F-35 warplane project. The other countries are the US, the UK, Italy, the Netherlands, Australia, Denmark, Canada and Norway. Turkey is expected to purchase 100 F-35 jets in the next 15 to 20 years. Rising costs pushed several countries to withdraw from the $280 billion project, and the same senior official said Turkey might also consider withdrawing.

The Defense Industry Executive Committee (SSİK), under the aegis of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, will make its final decision in April. The SSİK is seeking ways to jointly produce some parts of F-35 fighter planes with the American General Electric Co. and the Rolls-Royce Group in Turkey.

Turkey is also deliberating the exchange of its F-16s for F-35s within a reasonable time period. Turkey is expected to pay nearly $11 billion for 100 F-35 fighter jets. Citing rising costs in production, the consortium is asking Turkey for an additional $4 billion for the F-35s, but Turkey is reluctant to pay this amount. As some countries have withdrawn from the project, Turkey will reportedly have to pay up to $25 billion for the project.
Turkey is planning joint warplane production with Gulf countries

Turkey has made a radical shift recently, deciding to produce its first fleet of national fighter jets following crises in F-16 and F-35 projects with the US and Israel.

Turkish authorities decided during a Defense Industry Executive Committee (SSİK) meeting last December to begin production on the first Turkish fighter jets in 2020 in order to meet the needs of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK). TUSAŞ Engine Industries Inc. (TEİ) and TAİ will be the leading companies that will undertake production of these fighter jets, planning to design and produce plane engines by 2015.

Israel claimed that Turkey will fail to produce these jets as no country in the world would dare to build its own planes without participating in a consortium due to the high costs.

Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Adana deputy Kürşat Atılgan told Today’s Zaman that no country could produce a fighter jet by itself and for lucrative production, there needs to be at least 400 jets produced. Considering this fact, Turkey had been secretly trying to build a consortium with neighboring and friendly countries. In last month’s SSİK meeting, Gönül also talked about the possibility of joint production of fighter jets with South Korean companies. This issue was raised during Erdoğan’s recent visit to Gulf countries. Turkey thinks it will be easier to produce its own fighter jets with five countries involved in the region.

http://www.todayszaman.com/news-233254-problems-persist-with-the-us-on-fighter-planes.html

While being from zaman, who is close to Erdogan's party, this article is interesting, i trully doubt that the turkish airforce, who is 100% "US-bred" will allow to disengage from the F35 program.

Maybe it's part of political pressure towards the US after Washington denied to export the Reaper to Turkey. There's a lot of things going on right now with Israel, Cyprus and the gas in the area, the F35 is a good bargaining chip to force USA towards a more friendly posture in the matter. Of course it could also be something much simpler, like pressure to stop this unofficial "spare parts embargo", if it's true. (it's plausible).

By: medal64 - 23rd January 2011 at 23:15 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00

The Zaman newspaper is not a reliable source of course...

This is from the same newspaper, Turkish version: http://www.zaman.com.tr/haber.do?hab...det-f35-alacak

According to the MoD, Turkey will buy 116 F-35's...

The reality is none of the gulf countries have no technology for helping Turkey such a complex project. And Turkey is still a reliable partner for the F-35 program and plans the F-35 production in Turkey! The news is just BS...

By: PLA-MKII - 24th January 2011 at 04:27 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00

I thought Turkey had joined South Korea and Indonesia for a new jet? :confused:

To my brothers from Turkey: IF the F-35 deal falls through, what other options are there in your opinion?

By: swerve - 24th January 2011 at 10:26 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00

Only as a second-line fighter to make up numbers.