Turkish Aerospace CEO Claims KAAN Fighter Jet Surpasses F-35, Experts Urge Caution

Temel Kotil, CEO of Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI), has ignited a debate in the aviation world by asserting that Turkey's newly developed fifth-generation fighter jet, KAAN, surpasses the capabilities of the American F-35.

While the claim has generated excitement in Turkey, aerospace experts are urging caution and emphasizing the need for independent verification and analysis before drawing definitive conclusions.

Payload Capacity as a Key Differentiator​

Kotil has highlighted KAAN's larger payload capacity as a significant advantage over the F-35. He states that KAAN can carry 10 tonnes of weaponry, compared to the F-35's 6 tonnes.

This increased capacity could potentially allow KAAN to carry a wider array of munitions and engage in sustained combat operations more effectively. However, experts caution that payload capacity alone does not determine a fighter jet's overall superiority.

The Importance of Stealth and Avionics​

Stealth technology, a critical aspect of modern fighter jets, remains a key area where further assessment is required. While TAI boasts of KAAN's stealth capabilities, the actual radar cross-section (RCS) data, which determines a jet's visibility to radar, has not been publicly released.

Additionally, the sophistication of KAAN's avionics and sensor integration, vital for situational awareness and combat effectiveness, is yet to be fully evaluated.

Overall Performance and Comparative Analysis​

While the successful maiden flight of KAAN marks a significant milestone for the Turkish aerospace industry, experts emphasize the need for a comprehensive assessment of the jet's overall performance.

Metrics such as speed, maneuverability, and operational range all contribute to a fighter jet's effectiveness and must be rigorously tested and compared to established platforms like the F-35.

Geopolitical Considerations​

The exclusion of Turkey from the F-35 program due to its purchase of the Russian S-400 air defence system adds another layer of complexity to the discussion. Some analysts believe that the geopolitical tensions between Turkey and the US may influence interpretations of Kotil's claims.

The Need for Independent Verification​

While KAAN holds promise as a significant advancement for Turkish aerospace, experts stress the importance of independent verification and analysis to objectively evaluate its capabilities.

Only through rigorous testing and comparison with established platforms like the F-35 can the true potential of KAAN be ascertained.

 

[sanket]

How much weapon Internal weapon Bay carry is important , Even 4.5 th Gen can carry more payload than F-35.

 

[Mithu Roy]

ADA is still at Tejas mark 1 A stage and selling dreams of AMCA

 

[Bharat007]

As of now, KAAN is just a prototype. There would be first, second, third, fourth and even fifth prototype. Each new prototype will be better version of the earlier ones. Normally, only after last prototype meets the requirements of 5th gen fighter then the serial production would start. It is safe to say, first and second prototypes of KAAN are not even stealth enough to be called 5th gen. Same can be said of Boramae. It requires gradual polishing and perfecting of stealth tech. So, multiple prototypes are often made to fix shortcomings of earlier prototypes.

We all should know that achieving perfect stealth characteristics in a single prototype that too first prototype is incredibly challenging and impossible. So, Turks are simply lying!

 

[sanket]

As of now, KAAN is just a prototype. There would be first, second, third, fourth and even fifth prototype. Each new prototype will be better version of the earlier ones. Normally, only after last prototype meets the requirements of 5th gen fighter then the serial production would start. It is safe to say, first and second prototypes of KAAN are not even stealth enough to be called 5th gen. Same can be said of Boramae. It requires gradual polishing and perfecting of stealth tech. So, multiple prototypes are often made to fix shortcomings of earlier prototypes.

We all should know that achieving perfect stealth characteristics in a single prototype that too first prototype is incredibly challenging and impossible. So, Turks are simply lying!

KAAN is Just Tech Demonstrater and Not Prototype, First Prototype is long way to go ................................................so Turkey should stop self chest Thumping , they havent yet develop Engine for KAAN. Turkey should not compare F-35 with Tech Demonstrater KAAN First Flight .

 

[Boomeranger]

How much weapon Internal weapon Bay carry is important , Even 4.5 th Gen can carry more payload than F-35.

And that is what stealth jet means ONLY internal weapons carriage and so smaller load than 4.5 gen.

 

[Boomeranger]

It is just 4.5 gen. since using 3rd gen. GE engines are used and no TVC vanes and also IRST bulb... Might be aerobatically better than F35 since having 2 engines and higher TWR...

 

[Indeevar Sharma]

All bullshit. Bigmouth
KAAN is not a 5th gen fighter. Could be 4.5 gen, if they claim that it can carry 10 MT of weapons.. Right from avionics to weapons carrying abilities are not yet disclosed. Just flying a technology demonstrator doesnot guarantee 5th gen stealth technology. That too using US made engines, then challenging US F-35 & F-22 Raptors. BC. It will take 10 years from here for KAAN to go into production using US Engines.

 

[সৌম্যদীপ]

I don't want to generalise but talking big and make such outlandish claims are very much part of islamic world. Just look at Saddam's iraq, Gaddafi's libiya, Mullah's iran. Many claims like nuclear, this tech and that has costed them a lot on occassions. Erdogan wants to be the new caliph and doing everything to make the ummah accept turkey as a world power. They also made such calims on bayraktar drones, people fell for it but what happened to them in ukraine now?

 

[sanket]

And that is what stealth jet means ONLY internal weapons carriage and so smaller load than 4.5 gen.

The main objective of Internal bay is to Fire BVR /WVR within 15 second after Detecting.Internal weapon bay is open for Just 15 seconds and get the Job Done.

 

[Boomeranger]

The main objective of Internal bay is to Fire BVR /WVR within 15 second after Detecting.Internal weapon bay is open for Just 15 seconds and get the Job Done.

Race is on Between Turkey & Chinky for Tall Claims , Both always have Tall claims on there Fighter jets under developments . There is difference between Tech Demonstrator & Prototype , Actually turkey is Judging KAAN on Tech Demonstrator First Flight , they havent yet Build protypes ,Engine Avionics ,Gan Based AESA Radar , weapon package for stealth Fighter Radar Absorbing paint /Composite materials for Enhancing Stealth Capabilities,E/W Mention a few ...........

 

[alpha numeric]

Race is on Between Turkey & Chinky for Tall Claims , Both always have Tall claims on there Fighter jets under developments . There is difference between Tech Demonstrator & Prototype , Actually turkey is Judging KAAN on Tech Demonstrator First Flight , they havent yet Build protypes ,Engine Avionics ,Gan Based AESA Radar , weapon package for stealth Fighter Radar Absorbing paint /Composite materials for Enhancing Stealth Capabilities,E/W Mention a few ...........

We can add India to that list. Making Tall claims is something that we are better at than the Turks and the Chinese.

 

[twitter surfer]

We can add India to that list. Making Tall claims is something that we are better at than the Turks and the Chinese.

No self loathing lodu..turks are jelly fish with a PR to show it has an imapct of blue whale..while India is complete opposite that despite developing some most sophisticate tech we didnt garner much attention cuz of our poor PR..so stop being a so self loathing miserable loduchand

 

[Sandeep]

ADA is still at Tejas mark 1 A stage and selling dreams of AMCA

Wake up! They are selling BS. Both Turkey and South Korea haven't developed much at all. They are buying their technology and parts from the USA and NATO and mostly assembling it.

 

[Sandeep]

As of now, KAAN is just a prototype. There would be first, second, third, fourth and even fifth prototype. Each new prototype will be better version of the earlier ones. Normally, only after last prototype meets the requirements of 5th gen fighter then the serial production would start. It is safe to say, first and second prototypes of KAAN are not even stealth enough to be called 5th gen. Same can be said of Boramae. It requires gradual polishing and perfecting of stealth tech. So, multiple prototypes are often made to fix shortcomings of earlier prototypes.

We all should know that achieving perfect stealth characteristics in a single prototype that too first prototype is incredibly challenging and impossible. So, Turks are simply lying!

They have developed very little themselves. Most of the critical technology, equipment and parts are supplied from the USA or NATO alliance with the rest of the easy parts made by them. They aren't ahead of us at all because India could of gone ahead with the Russian FGFA program and we would had the same kind of deal where we would have very little access or knowledge of the critical technology.

 

[Pramkumar]

dont underestimate the enemy, when we are standing bare empty hand, the enemy has some kind of weapon in his hand, either he developed his own (china) or assembled with his friendly countries support (Turkey).

 

[Sandeep]

This is absolute BS!!! Turkey and South Korea haven't developed this jet themselves at all. The Korean jet isn't a 5th generation stealth jet at all because it doesn't even have a internal weapons bay that can hide the weapons so it's easy to pick up on radar. Turkey haven't developed this jet by themselves at all and most of the critical technology, parts, sensors, equipment are provided by the USA and NATO countries and will be heavily reliant on them for expensive spares, updates and upgrades for 30-40 years.

India is developing the AMCA with 100% of the technology, equipment, parts, sensors etc without the help of anyone and it will allow us to make our own much cheaper upgrades, weapons, software etc. It might take a bit longer but it's better for us in the long term. India should quickly upgrade our existing jets and technology from the Super Sukhoi, Mig 29, Mirage 2000 and manufacture the Tejas MK1A and MK2 jets as soon as possible to increase our squadron strength. We can also buy 1-2 squadron of Sukhoi jets, Mig 29, Mirage 2000 at second hand or brand new.

 

[Akshat]

No self loathing lodu..turks are jelly fish with a PR to show it has an imapct of blue whale..while India is complete opposite that despite developing some most sophisticate tech we didnt garner much attention cuz of our poor PR..so stop being a so self loathing miserable loduchand

Yeah. We have developed such high end tech that our armed forces still have to import, we are still not exporting as much as Turkey or many other smaller nations are, and our own CAG is calling DRDO out as a world class liar. Amazing job.

 

[Akshat]

Wake up! They are selling BS. Both Turkey and South Korea haven't developed much at all. They are buying their technology and parts from the USA and NATO and mostly assembling it.

Yet they can earn dollars from it and defend their nations while we have to pay others for similar planes.

 

[Akshat]

They have developed very little themselves. Most of the critical technology, equipment and parts are supplied from the USA or NATO alliance with the rest of the easy parts made by them. They aren't ahead of us at all because India could of gone ahead with the Russian FGFA program and we would had the same kind of deal where we would have very little access or knowledge of the critical technology.

You mean the Su57 whose orders were cut down by 70% by Russia itself? Wow.

 

[Alok Gupta]

Yet they can earn dollars from it and defend their nations while we have to pay others for similar planes.

Beside UAVs and a couple of naval assets, tell me what does Turkey own to defent itself. Mostly US and NATO origin weapon systems. Their AF mostly consists of F-16s. KAAN can not be better than the F-35 because Turks still do not have the speciality avionics needed to make it a 5th gen fighter jet. They are peacemealing a lot of it. Having a bigger payload does not make it a better aircraft.

 

[Sandeep]

Yet they can earn dollars from it and defend their nations while we have to pay others for similar planes.

We can easily defend our country because we have nuclear weapons that they don’t have so nobody can start a war and survive against us including China. Also their jets use a lot of technology, equipment, sensors or parts from the USA and NATO and to sell their jet using their technology requires permission from the USA or NATO which they mostly won’t. That also restricts their ability to freely sell their jets so it doesn’t benefit them in the long term.

 

[Sandeep]

You mean the Su57 whose orders were cut down by 70% by Russia itself? Wow.

Yes I was saying that we could have carried on with that jet program for our stealth fighter and we would have got a bad deal with very little critical technology transfer, local production, spares and services etc which is why we didn’t as we would achieve or receive nothing substantial.

 

[Boomeranger]

This is absolute BS!!! Turkey and South Korea haven't developed this jet themselves at all. The Korean jet isn't a 5th generation stealth jet at all because it doesn't even have a internal weapons bay that can hide the weapons so it's easy to pick up on radar. Turkey haven't developed this jet by themselves at all and most of the critical technology, parts, sensors, equipment are provided by the USA and NATO countries and will be heavily reliant on them for expensive spares, updates and upgrades for 30-40 years.

India is developing the AMCA with 100% of the technology, equipment, parts, sensors etc without the help of anyone and it will allow us to make our own much cheaper upgrades, weapons, software etc. It might take a bit longer but it's better for us in the long term. India should quickly upgrade our existing jets and technology from the Super Sukhoi, Mig 29, Mirage 2000 and manufacture the Tejas MK1A and MK2 jets as soon as possible to increase our squadron strength. We can also buy 1-2 squadron of Sukhoi jets, Mig 29, Mirage 2000 at second hand or brand new.

Even AMCA MK1 will be 4.5 gen. only fighter jet; as it will use GE-F414 engines which is not for stealth jets and so, no super cruise capability! It will use IRST bulb which reflects radar waves easily, it will not have "diamond wedge lens" system and also no EOTS at all... All these are present in F35 and so, it will come to K'aan and KF21 also eventually, via LM. ADA-HAL are 30 years behind KAI and TAI in developments of AMCA TD's even!!

 

[Akshat]

We can easily defend our country because we have nuclear weapons that they don’t have so nobody can start a war and survive against us including China. Also their jets use a lot of technology, equipment, sensors or parts from the USA and NATO and to sell their jet using their technology requires permission from the USA or NATO which they mostly won’t. That also restricts their ability to freely sell their jets so it doesn’t benefit them in the long term.

So we should not buy any planes, ships, guns, missiles etc.? Lets just sit on those nukes?

As for permissions, Turkey and Korea are selling far more items than we are. Not to mention, even our products use US/Nato parts. Can we sell Tejas to Russia or Iran? No. Same for Arjun. Or nearly any of our products. So keep dreaming. At least they can sell and use. We can't do anything.

 

[Sandeep]

So we should not buy any planes, ships, guns, missiles etc.? Lets just sit on those nukes?

As for permissions, Turkey and Korea are selling far more items than we are. Not to mention, even our products use US/Nato parts. Can we sell Tejas to Russia or Iran? No. Same for Arjun. Or nearly any of our products. So keep dreaming. At least they can sell and use. We can't do anything.

I didn’t say we shouldn’t buy any planes so stop taking what I say to the extreme. We have jets, ammunition, missiles etc so we do have a good defence. But they can’t start a full blown war unless they are prepared to pay a heavy body price and that’s before we would even launch a nuclear missile.

As for selling these planes that they develop it will be much harder to sell and come with restrictions. Turkey isn’t going to be able and sell their jets to just about anyone like Pakistan as even our products that use foreign technology will have restrictions as well. But because they use a lot of western technology they will find it much harder than if they used any Russian technology who would have a more relaxed set of restrictions.

 

[Sandeep]

Even AMCA MK1 will be 4.5 gen. only fighter jet; as it will use GE-F414 engines which is not for stealth jets and so, no super cruise capability! It will use IRST bulb which reflects radar waves easily, it will not have "diamond wedge lens" system and also no EOTS at all... All these are present in F35 and so, it will come to K'aan and KF21 also eventually, via LM. ADA-HAL are 30 years behind KAI and TAI in developments of AMCA TD's even!!

Super cruise isn’t essential for a stealth fighter as the whole point is to hide it from radar. Also even if we hit the super cruise by using wet thrust then it will still give us a good amount of speed and range. Also we aren’t using an exterior IRST bulb that can be picked up with radar. Our jet will also have a EOTS along with having an exterior coating to hide our own IR signature as otherwise it wouldn’t be a stealth jet. So ours will be a truly stealth fighter with a technology that has been developed entirely by ourselves and without any help. Currently we are building the prototype already.

The Turkish jet is just a much inferior licensed F35 jet with using foreign parts. They haven’t developed the stealth technology or any critical technology so they are actually behind us on the scientific knowledge and experience. As for South Korea they don’t have a stealth fighter as it doesn’t have an internal weapon bay to hide the weapons so they might as well be saying hi to the enemy’s air force.