The First Flight Date of the National Combat Aircraft is Highlighted

the first flight history of the national combat aircraft
the first flight history of the national combat aircraft

President of the Turkish Presidency Defense Industry. Dr. During his live broadcast, İsmail DEMİR made statements about the National Combat Aircraft program.

"Our National Combat Aircraft (MMU) Project already had a calendar independent of the F-35," a statement made by President DEMIR. So the project itself was not affiliated with the F-35. But these developments in the F-35 process, of course, revealed the need to further speed up our MMU development process. So the F-35 and the MMU project are not connected, we did not start as an alternative to the F-35, but this need and need may also require certain changes in the aircraft's identification and mission functions.

You have a certain limit to push the development period and everything has a maturation phase. We can accelerate this with certain criteria, however. The block approach has been adopted in this regard. Of course we have final performance parameters. This; As with all aircraft projects in the world, let alone the fifth generation, the method that is always applied even in much older aircraft projects is already. There is an approach first like a conceptual design, then prototypes and test versions created to prove the concept, and then blocks containing certain key elements.

We do not want to make a complete determination about the deficiencies in the fifth generation, which is already in the stages. Because there are many very detailed technical issues there. Here, for example, we can start from the engine. At first, we say that the engine will start with a ready product on the shelf. We can say that some subsystems can start with some ready-made products on the shelf. But this block approach; In the process of maturation of the plane, it will require a process such as the experiences and the results of the use and the results that come from it, to go back to the design stage and make certain changes. In this respect, the block approach is a subject that is fully strongly agreed and the nature of the work. ” expressions were included.

President DEMİR, who also touched on the schedule of the National Combat Aircraft project, said, “We have determined 2023 as the date of the aircraft’s exit from the hangar, which we call roll-out. In other words, on this date; we are talking about an aircraft where the aircraft is in a sense fleshed out, what shape the aircraft will be seen, its systems can be integrated onto it and maybe we can take it out of the hangar and run it on the runway. This will be a roll-out that will also allow various tests to be conducted on it. There will be several versions and with their tests, we are aiming for the first flight at the end of 2025 – we are trying to bring forward 2026 there. Then, we plan to make various deliveries with various blocks in periods such as 2029, 2031 and 2033.”