Domestic fighter aircraft development programs continue at full speed. Finally, at the beginning of last month, 3 F110 engines were supplied to be used in prototypes developed for the National Combat Aircraft. Now, the expected date of sale for Hürjet and MMU has been announced by TUSAŞ General Manager Temel Kotil.
When is the sale date of Hürjet and MMU?
Turkey has the largest and strongest army in its region. However, this situation causes their needs to be equally large. This gap widened after it was removed from the programs it was included in and embargoes were added.
But at this point it is not unsolvable. Because domestic defense industry companies and their products have largely filled this gap. This process continues with the domestic development of missile and rocket systems first, then land vehicles, armored vehicles and tanks, and now aircraft.
The National Combat Aircraft will have the same power as the F-22, which the USA did not give to anyone!
TEI General Manager Prof. Dr. Mahmut Faruk Akşit said in a speech that the MMU (National Combat Aircraft) could have the strength of the F-22.
In the first place, Hürkuş was developed to be a basic training aircraft. Although this aircraft looks like an old-style simple aircraft because it uses a turboprop engine instead of a jet, it contains the latest technology we see in 4th and 5th generation aircraft. In this way, it can be used as a light ground attack aircraft.
In the second plan comes Hürjet. This aircraft was also designed as a jet engine trainer aircraft. However, many of its systems will be partners with the 4.5 generation MMU at first and then the 5th generation. In fact, when we look inside the cockpit, we see that it looks more like an F-35 than an F-16. The planned first flight date is 2023. The newly announced sales date for Hürjet is 2024. By 2025, it will be produced as 2 units per month.
In the third stage, there is the MMU, which everyone is watching. This aircraft will make its first flight in 2025. As with Hürjet, the MMU sales date coincides with one year later. In other words, agreements with buyers will begin in 2026. Inventory entry is expected to take place between the last quarter of 2027 and the first quarter of 2028.
In other words, to make a rough estimate, until the MMU enters the inventory, approximately 50 Hürjets will be used by the Turkish Air Force. With the inclusion of MMU, TAI will start working on hypersonic technologies with the adaptation of this jet to the 5th generation and domestic engine.
Hürjet features
- Length: 13.6m
- Wingspan: 9.5 m
- Height: 5.1m
- Wing area: 35 m2
- Thrust: 17,600 lb
- Service ceiling: 13,700+ m / 45,000+ ft
- Continuous rotation: 5.5 g @ 15,000 ft < 0.9 Mach
- Climb rate: 39,000 fpm
- Range: 2200+ km
- Load Capacity: 2721 kg
- Max speed: 1.4 Mach
- G limits: +8g / -3g
MMU features
- Length: 21m
- Wingspan: 14 m
- Height: 6m
- Thrust: 2x 27,000 lb
- Service ceiling: 55,000+ ft
- Max speed: 1.8 Mach
- G limits: +9g / -3.5g
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