A video of the first flight of the KAAN fighter, the fighter jet built by Turkey, was released Wednesday morning.
With the 21-meter-long KAAN that has a 14-meter wingspan, Turkey became one of the few countries to manufacture 5th generation fighter jets, Hurriyet noted.
?? Türkiye’nin milli muharip uçağı KAAN ilk uçuşunu gerçekleştirdi. pic.twitter.com/1sURCZVMG0
— milliyet.com.tr (@milliyet) February 21, 2024
Analysts cited by the newspaper claim that some features of the CAN “are superior to those of the F-35.”
As Turkey’s former chief of the General Staff of the National Defense Staff, Ismail Hakki Bejing, said, “It will take 10 years for the mass production of the CAN. But when that happens, the Turkish Air Force will become the most powerful in the region.”
It will be recalled that Turkey was initially included in the F-35 production program with the aim of obtaining 100 such fighters from the US but was dropped in 2019 after Russia purchased S-400 from the US, a move that raised concerns in the US and NATO.
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