Turkey has announced that its fifth-generation KAAN fighter jet will not rely on American F110 engines and will eventually be powered by the indigenously developed TF35000 jet engines.
Haluk Görgün, head of the Presidency of Defense Industries (SSB), the country’s top defense procurement agency, said that the indigenous fighter jet program is advancing as planned and will not be dependent on any single foreign engine supplier.
“Kaan’s future is in no way dependent on the engine of a single country,” he told Anadolu Agency (AA). In the same vein, he said work is advancing on the indigenous TF35000, which will power the aircraft in the long run.
The comments were made shortly after the Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan stated that his country was awaiting clearance from the US Congress to receive American-made engines for the first batch of the cutting-edge KAAN.
Speaking on the sidelines of a Trump-Erdogan meeting on September 26, 2025, Fidan said that the licenses had been “suspended” and that “the KAAN’s engines are waiting for approval in the US Congress.”
The Turkish Foreign Ministry has not clarified why the US Congress is holding up the clearance. However, the two states have remained embroiled in tensions since 2019, when Ankara was expelled from the F-35 program and sanctioned under the CAATSA (Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act) for purchasing the Russian S-400.
KAAN is Turkey’s most aspirational military program in decades, particularly because it represents an indigenous alternative to the F-35 Lightning II.
The Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI)-built aircraft will catapult the country into a small group of countries that have indigenously developed a fifth-generation stealth fighter.
Turkey had earlier announced that the aircraft would enter serial production by 2028 and enter service with the Turkish Air Force by 2029. However, without engines, that may be impossible.
The Fate Of KAAN Is Tied To US Jet Engines
The first prototype of the KAAN fighter jet flew in February 2024, and the second prototype flew in May that same year.
These early prototypes are powered by the American F-110 jet engines, which means that despite the tensions between the two countries, a major technical element of the KAAN fighter again has an American overlap.
Anticipating that the complicated US-Turkey ties might lead to Washington blocking the sale of F110s, Turkey has been accelerating work on the TF35000, which are especially tailored for the KAAN. However, the maturation of that technology is still at least a few years away, which leaves Turkey reliant on the F110 to produce the aircraft.
Haluk Görgün said that Turkey has already received all the engines required for its prototypes and applied for the procurement of power units needed for the initial block of serially produced jets. He emphasized that work on TF35000 is proceeding as anticipated, and mass production of KAAN is planned using this indigenous engine.
Notably, serial production refers to a limited number of units in a sequential, controlled manner, often tailored to specific requirements or batches, whereas mass production involves large-scale, standardized production of identical units to efficiently meet high demand.
Görgün stated that Turkey was not looking for foreign alternatives to the American engines but was ready to adjust to any risks associated with US clearances or alternative sourcing.
“If necessary, engine changes could be made for the first block. Engineering adjustments would be manageable, and I do not foresee a major schedule disadvantage,” he said. “Ultimately, our final serial-production aircraft will fly with a Turkish engine.”
The official sounded an optimistic note even though the delays in deliveries threaten to slow down the program.
“Development activities for KAAN’s main engine, the TF35000, and its auxiliary power unit, the APU60, are successfully continuing. This is always how the process works in the defense industry: it starts with existing engines, and then national engine projects are introduced,” he asserted.
He further declared that the jet will be manufactured using a block-based strategy, which means Turkey will progressively create and incorporate upgraded models with various capabilities into the stock.
There is no delay in the delivery schedule of our Kaan fighter jet,” he noted. “To avoid jeopardizing mass production, we are not relying on a single source; instead, we work with multiple supply channels and evaluate alternatives simultaneously.” “This way, we safeguard the timeline and ensure uninterrupted progress on our national engine development road map,” he added.
He did not elaborate on how it will diversify the supply chains or which alternatives will be considered if the US does not approve the delivery of engines.
Görgün claims that Turkey has advanced to a point where it can use its own domestic engine technology resources to achieve the essential capabilities required for land, air, sea, and missile systems. “In line with our Gas Turbine Engine Roadmap, we are resolutely continuing our steps toward achieving independence in jet engines as well,” he said.
However, it is widely known that the development of jet engine technology is significantly different than land, air, sea, and missile propulsion programs.
Jet engine technology is highly advanced and requires significant resources, expertise, and infrastructure, so only a handful of countries, such as the US, the UK, France, and Russia, have developed and produced jet engines.
China has made significant strides in jet engine technology in recent years. The state-owned Aero Engine Corporation of China (AECC) has produced the WS-10 and the WS-15 engines for its fleet of fighter jets. However, for a long time, the Chinese jets were powered by Russian engines, which inevitably affected their operational independence.
The development of the WS-15, an advanced afterburning turbofan engine, began in the early 1990s. However, the program has spanned over three decades, marked by significant technical hurdles.
For instance, early prototypes suffered from overheating and blade failures under extreme conditions. These problems have now been largely resolved, and the engine is believed to be powering China’s advanced-generation fighters.
However, the country still trails its Western counterparts in jet engine development.
Similarly, India has struggled with the development of the GTX-35VS Kaveri jet engine, which was expected to power the indigenously produced fighter jets.
Initiated by the Gas Turbine Research Establishment (GTRE) under the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), the program aimed to develop a high-performance afterburning turbofan engine to achieve technological sovereignty and reduce reliance on imported engines, such as the American General Electric F404.
Despite decades of effort and significant investment, the Kaveri failed to meet the requirements for operational fighter jets. This failure compounded India’s production woes as the F404 deliveries were delayed.
As earlier noted by Indian Air Force veteran and military commentator, Air Marshal Anil Khosla (retd), in a EurAsian Times article, “Developing advanced jet engines involves advanced knowledge and complex engineering challenges, including materials science, aerodynamics, and thermodynamics. Achieving high thrust-to-weight ratios, fuel efficiency, and durability while maintaining stealth capabilities requires innovative design solutions, advanced materials, and cutting-edge technology that has taken years to develop.”
While the challenges for Turkey’s development of TF35000 are manifold, the country remains steadfast in its commitment to achieve that milestone. This is primarily because it has learned the hard way that dependence on partners can come at a cost to strategic autonomy.
Turkey’s decision to buy the S-400, a potent air defense system, cost it the fifth-generation aircraft, creating a massive gap in its air power. Turkey has since been unable to modernise its Air Force to combat regional security challenges.
Interestingly, Turkish military analyst Ibrahim Kartas said in a column for Daily Sabah last year that “tensions” between the “US and Türkiye may not decrease soon” and that an indigenously developed Turkish fighter may disrupt America’s “foreign policy and jet sales, particularly in the Middle East.”
“Washington may (therefore) not greenlight the sale of F110s (to Turkish Aerospace Industries, or TUSAŞ).”
It would be premature to say whether the US is disrupting deliveries to eliminate competition. However, the KAAN does pose a challenge to the export of US fighters, as evident by the latest order placed by Indonesia. In the future, the Turkish fighter jet could also potentially be bought by Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE, all of which have expressed interest in the aircraft.
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