Just months after US President Donald Trump greenlit the long-sought sale of F-35 stealth fighters to Saudi Arabia, Riyadh is now reportedly considering investing in Turkey’s homegrown fifth-generation fighter, the KAAN.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told reporters on February 5 that Saudi Arabia and Turkey are poised to increase their defence industry cooperation, adding that KAAN had been praised by Saudi Arabia.
“We have received a lot of positive feedback on Kaan. There is a joint investment with Saudi Arabia in this area, and we can implement this partnership at any moment,” Erdoğan was quoted as saying by Turkish media.
Erdoğan emphasised that Ankara and Riyadh had inked “major” military-industry cooperation deals and that Turkey was determined to expand that cooperation.
“We have deep-rooted relations with Saudi Arabia that have cultural and historical dimensions. We signed important agreements during this visit to further develop these relations,” the Turkish President said. ”The progress our country has made in the field of defence industry is being followed with interest by Saudi Arabia, as it is by the whole world,” he added.
“We are primarily focused on meeting our own needs in the defence industry. In addition, we also strive to meet the needs of our friends and brothers. We are signing important cooperation agreements with Saudi Arabia in the field of defence industry, and we are determined to develop this further,” the President said, without revealing the specifics of a potential deal or how much Riyadh was planning to invest.
“KAAN is not just a fighter jet. KAAN is a symbol of Türkiye’s engineering capabilities and independent defence will,” Erdogan asserted on his flight back from Cairo. “We have received much complimentary feedback about Kaan. As we become more influential in this field globally, these kinds of collaborations will certainly increase.”
Reports of Saudi Arabia’s interest in KAAN initially emerged in 2024, when the Kingdom was reportedly weighing purchasing at least 100 KAAN fighter jets.
This was followed by a meeting between Turkish and Saudi defence officials, including Saudi Air Force Commander Turki bin Bandar Al Saud, Saudi Deputy Minister of Defence Khaled Bin Hussein Al Biyari, and head of the Presidency of Turkish Defence Industries Haluk Gorgun, as previously reported by the EurAsian Times.
At the time, analysts said that the two sides were building on the existing defence relationship, such as Saudi Arabia’s purchase of the Akinci drones.
“Saudi Arabia may seek joint production and technology transfer for the KAAN, similar to the arrangement made for the Bayraktar Akinci UCAV,” local Turkish publication Türkiye Today reported at the time.
In February 2025, Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) CEO Mehmet Demiroglu said rather openly that Saudi Arabia and Turkey were working closely on KAAN and that the project may eventually include other foreign partners, such as the United Arab Emirates.
At the time, Saudi Arabia was looking to upgrade its air force with fifth-generation aircraft amid US reluctance to sell the F-35 to Riyadh.
It is noteworthy that the KAAN was developed, at least in part, as a response to Turkey’s exclusion from the US F-35 program, effectively serving as an indigenous alternative to the US jet.
The Turkish officials and defence sources describe it as filling the gap left by its expulsion from the F-35 program, with ambitions to match or exceed aspects of the American stealth fighter.
Though envisioned as an air-superiority fighter, experts believe that the KAAN has evolved into a multi-role fighter.
“The F-35 carries six tons of ammunition; this one carries 10 tons. It has two engines compared to the F-35’s single engine. Having two engines means more energy and radars illuminating a greater distance,” said Temel Kotil, the Turkish Aerospace Industries’ general manager, while making a case for Kaan being superior to the F-35.
“We will deliver 20 KAAN aircraft in the year 2028. We’ll deliver many more between 2030 and 2033, and the Turkish fleet will comprise hundreds of KAAN aircraft.”
In fact, Turkey itself has continued to push for the F-35 despite the development of KAAN.
Last month, for instance, President Erdoğan reaffirmed that the expulsion of Turkey from the F-35 fighter jet program was “unjust,” emphasising that NATO security depends on its induction to the program.
Donald Trump has also reportedly stated that the US was “very seriously” considering the sale of F-35 jets to Ankara.
Saudi Arabia To Get F-35
Saudi Arabia finally received approval from US President Donald Trump to purchase F-35 Lightning II stealth fighters in November 2025 after the two sides signed a “historic strategic defence agreement” during a visit by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to Washington, DC.
The US President did not reveal the number of jets that will be sold, but previous reports suggested that Riyadh had formally requested 48 F-35 fighters. There is speculation that the number of jets could be reduced to two squadrons, or 24 aircraft.
Notably, Trump approved the purchase despite strong opposition from the Israel Defence Forces (IDF), which has been concerned that the delivery of these advanced stealth fighters may weaken its Qualitative Military Edge (QME) in the Middle East.
The US has a long-standing agreement with Israel, which stipulates that US weapons supplied to Israel should be “superior in capability” compared to those sold to others in West Asia. Israel has opposed the sale of F-35 to both Turkey and Saudi Arabia.
In fact, some officials and defence experts told Reuters earlier that the US could sell a downgraded variant of the F-35 to Saudi Arabia to address Israel’s concerns and strengthen ties with Riyadh at the same time.
The nature of the downgrade is unknown and has not been admitted officially by either country. However, analysts said Saudi F-35s could be made technologically inferior to Israeli jets based on the software package commissioned for the jet.
The F-35’s software governs sensor fusion, data sharing, and mission planning, and the US can integrate the Saudi F-35s with a less capable baseline configuration, restricting access to full-spectrum updates, AI-driven targeting, and network-centric tools that Israel enjoys.
The EurAsian Times could not independently verify these claims.
The US recently approved the potential sale of Patriot air defence missiles worth approximately $9 billion to Saudi Arabia amid rising tensions between the US and Iran in the region. However, there is still no word on when a deal for the F-35 will be signed, and how many aircraft the kingdom will purchase.
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