The first export contract of HÜRKUŞ-II, developed by TAI, was signed with Azerbaijan and it was decided to deliver 14 aircraft to Baku.
Turkey's new generation basic trainer aircraft, HÜRKUŞ-II, received its first export contract after entering the Turkish Air Force inventory. The contract between TAI and the Ministry of Defense Industry of Azerbaijan, covering the supply of 14 HÜRKUŞ-IIs to Azerbaijan, was signed within the scope of ADEX 2026 held in Baku.
While Defense Industry President Haluk Görgün announced that the first export of HÜRKUŞ-II was realized, he said that the first deliveries to Azerbaijan will be made in 2026. Görgün also stated that the Azerbaijani order will proceed in parallel with the mass production program carried out for Türkiye.
Thus, HÜRKUŞ-II reached its first customer in the international market just a few days after deliveries started for the Turkish Air Force in Turkey. The first two HÜRKUŞ-IIs were delivered to the Air Forces Command at a ceremony held at TAI's Kahramankazan facilities on September 28, 2026.
Within the scope of the signed contract, a total of 14 HÜRKUŞ-IIs will be produced for Azerbaijan. According to Haluk Görgün's statement, 2026 is targeted for the first deliveries and the planes are planned to be sent to Azerbaijan at a similar production pace as the deliveries in Turkey.
Görgün announced that they plan to produce a total of 12 to 14 HÜRKUŞ-IIs in 2026 and some of them will be delivered to Azerbaijan. The previously determined production program of 55 aircraft for Turkey's own needs continues.
The important point here is that the agreement towards Azerbaijan is not just a statement of intent. With the signing of the supply contract within the scope of ADEX 2026, the first export program of HÜRKUŞ-II officially started.
The export contract of HÜRKUŞ-II came immediately after the aircraft's certification and entry into the inventory process in Turkey.
HÜRKUŞ-II, developed by TAI, completed the military type certification process on September 9, 2026. Within the scope of certification, 1,790 requirements in 12 different disciplines were verified, 950 evidence documents were examined and a total of 153 certification tests were carried out.
According to the data announced by TAI, laboratory, ground and flight tests were carried out in this context. Following the completion of the development and certification process of the platform, the first two aircraft were delivered to the Turkish Air Force on September 28.
Following these developments, the contract signed with Azerbaijan reveals that HÜRKUŞ-II has become a platform to be produced for international users rather than just a training platform developed for the Turkish Air Force.
HÜRKUŞ-II's exports to Azerbaijan proceed in parallel with the delivery program in Turkey.
While the first two aircraft were delivered to the Air Forces Command on September 28, 10 more aircraft are aimed to be delivered by the end of 2026, according to the current plan. Thus, the number of HÜRKUŞ-IIs delivered to the Turkish Air Force is planned to reach 12 by the end of the year. It is aimed to add a total of 55 HÜRKUŞ-IIs, including the remaining aircraft, to the inventory by the end of 2028.
Defense Industry President Haluk Görgün had previously announced that HÜRKUŞ-II was planned to be deployed at the fleet level within the Turkish Air Force in 2027 and that all 55 aircraft were aimed to be delivered by the end of 2028.
HÜRKUŞ-II was basically developed to meet the flight needs of pilots before the transition to basic training and jet training.
The platform is designed to support pilot candidates' transition to more advanced jet training after acquiring basic flight and piloting skills. There are also partnerships in the cockpit and system architecture of HÜRKUŞ-II that will facilitate the transition to more advanced platforms such as HÜRJET and KAAN.
However, HÜRKUŞ-II is not considered as a platform limited only to the education concept. TAI defines the HÜRKUŞ family as an aircraft with capabilities that can be used in close air support and difficult operations in addition to training missions.
Defense Industry President Haluk Görgün also stated that HÜRKUŞ has capabilities beyond the training aircraft and that different capabilities can be added for missions such as light attack and close air support.
The contract for 14 aircraft signed with Azerbaijan is important as it is the first concrete order for HÜRKUŞ-II in the international market.
Defense Industry President Görgün evaluated that there was a global market for 100 to 300 aircraft for the HÜRKUŞ family and announced that an export contract with a sister country would be signed in a short time. The signing of the contract for 14 aircraft with Azerbaijan just a few days after this statement showed that the export process in question had become concrete.
HÜRKUŞ also had export contracts in its previous configurations. With HÜRKUŞ-II, TAI has moved to the stage of introducing the new generation basic trainer aircraft, which has completed the military type certification process in Turkey, to the international market.
Azerbaijan's order for 14 HÜRKUŞ-IIs will enable the use of a new platform from Turkey in the country's pilot training infrastructure.
The Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense also confirmed that various cooperation and supply contracts were signed with Turkish defense industry companies within the scope of ADEX 2026 on September 30. In the statement of the Ministry, it was stated that the stands of Turkish companies, including TAI, were visited and the development of military-technical cooperation between the two countries was discussed.
