TAI General Manager Mehmet Demiroğlu announced that the National Combat Aircraft KAAN is planned to fly with its national engine in early 2030.
In the KAAN program, the schedule for the aircraft's flight with the national power system has begun to become clear. TAI General Manager Mehmet Demiroğlu, in his statement within the scope of ADEX 2026 held in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, said that the national engine is planned to be introduced to KAAN in early 2030.
Demiroğlu stated that more than 1,200 engineers worked in the engine project and that the teams focused their work on the KAAN engine. The project is carried out under the leadership of the Presidency of Defense Industries, and the work previously carried out by TEI and TRMotor has been combined under the umbrella of TEI.
The first KAANs will fly with foreign engines
The 2030 target of the national engine does not mean that all of KAAN's first mass production aircraft will fly with the national engine.
According to the previously announced planning, the F110 engine is expected to be used in the early blocks of KAAN. With the introduction of the national engine, TAI aims to switch to the domestic power system in the following blocks.
For this reason, the 2030 target stands out as an important threshold in the development process of KAAN. With the integration of the national engine, it is aimed to reduce foreign dependency in the aircraft's power system.
KAAN P1 is also preparing for flight again
In addition to the national engine statement, Demiroğlu also gave information about the testing schedule of the current KAAN P1 prototype.
Stating that P1's ground system integrations have been completed, Demiroğlu said that there are only a few modifications left and ground tests will begin after these. After this process takes a few weeks, it is planned to move on to fast taxi tests.
It is aimed to fly the P1 again if the expected performance is achieved in the fast taxi tests. TAI plans to carry out this flight before the end of 2026.
The national engine constitutes the next phase of KAAN
TAI's current approach in the KAAN project envisages the development of the aircraft through different blocks. While the F110 is used in the first stage aircraft, it is planned to switch to the domestic power system in subsequent configurations with the introduction of the national engine.
The development of the national engine is a critical technology program not only for KAAN's engine supply, but also for the development of Turkey's high thrust class turbofan engine design and production capability.
Two separate calendars are progressing in KAAN
Currently, two important processes are progressing in parallel in the KAAN program: re-flying the P1 prototype before the end of 2026 and integrating the national engine into KAAN in early 2030.
The exact technical specifications of the engine project, the test schedule of the first prototype engine and all the details regarding the mass production plan have not yet been disclosed to the public.
