Turkish Aerospace Industries Inc. (, TAI or TUSAŞ) is a

state-owned State ownership, also called public ownership or government ownership, is the ownership of an industry, asset, property, or enterprise by the national government of a country or state, or a public body representing a community, as opposed to ...

arms company in Turkey.

History

On 16 August 1925 the Turkish Aircraft and Engine Limited Company ''()'' factory was founded in

Kayseri Kayseri () is a large List of cities in Turkey, city in Central Anatolia, Turkey, and the capital of Kayseri Province, Kayseri province. Historically known as Caesarea (Mazaca), Caesarea, it has been the historical capital of Cappadocia since anc ...

, Turkey. The company received its current name in 1973 and was incorporated into the

Ministry of Industry and Technology The Ministry of Industry and Technology () is a government ministry office of the Republic of Turkey, responsible for industrial and commercial affairs in Turkey. The ministry is headed by Mehmet Fatih Kacır. Ministers * Mustafa Varank (10 J ...

of Turkey to reduce the "foreign dependence" of the country's defense industry. Their first project was to make the new F-16 from the US ready for the

Turkish Air Force The Turkish Air Force () is the Air force, air and space force of the Turkish Armed Forces. It traces its origins to 1 June 1911 when it was founded as the Ottoman Aviation Squadrons, Aviation Squadrons by the Ottoman Empire. It was composed ...

. In 1984 the US companies

Lockheed Martin The Lockheed Martin Corporation is an American Arms industry, defense and aerospace manufacturer with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta on March 15, 1995. It is headquartered in North ...

and

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) was an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1892, incorporated in the New York (state), state of New York and headquartered in Boston. Over the year ...

joined in'','' with TAI producing its first F-16 in 1987. TAI produced 240 F-16 aircraft for Turkey and assembled 46 F-16s for the

Egyptian Air Force The Egyptian Air Force (EAF) () is the aviation branch of the Egyptian Armed Forces that is responsible for all airborne defence missions and operates all military aircraft, including those used in support of the Egyptian Army, Egyptian Navy ...

in the 1980s and 1990s. Because of disagreements, TUSAŞ was not very active in the time span from 1984 to 2005. In 2005 Turkish private persons and Turkish companies bought the shares of Lockheed Martin and General Electric. The new owner agreed to put the company back under control of the Turkish state. On 23 October 2024 an attack was launched on the company's offices in

Kahramankazan Kahramankazan (before 2016: Kazan) is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Ankara Province, Turkey. Its area is 547 km2, and its population is 59,123 (2022). It lies in the plain of Akıncı to the north west of the city of Ank ...

, Ankara Province, leaving five people dead and 22 others injured. The two perpetrators of the attacks were also killed. Later, the PKK admitted to committing the assault.

Projects

TAI's experience includes the licensed production of General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon jets, CASA/IPTN CN-235 light transport/maritime patrol/surveillance aircraft, SIAI-Marchetti SF.260 trainers, Cougar AS-532 search and rescue (SAR), combat search and rescue (CSAR) and utility helicopters as well as the design and development of Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), target drones and agricultural aircraft. TAI's core business also includes modernization, modification and systems integration programs and after sales support of both fixed and rotary wing military and commercial aircraft that are in the inventory of Turkey and its allies. TAI's Hürkuş basic trainer aircraft has been granted air worthiness type certification, the company announced at the 2016 Farnborough International Airshow.

Major programs

* Electronic warfare retrofit and structural modifications on

(TuAF) F-16s. *MLU, Falcon-Up and Falcon Star Modifications on the

Royal Jordanian Air Force The Royal Jordanian Air Force (RJAF; Arabic: سلاح الجو الملكي الأردني, ''Silāḥ al-Jaww al-Malakī al-ʾUrdunī'') is the aerial warfare branch of the Jordanian Armed Forces. Founded in 1955, the RJAF serves as the primary ...

(RJAF) F-16s, *Modifications of 41 F-16A/B Block 15 aircraft of the

Pakistan Air Force The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) (; ) is the aerial warfare branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces, tasked primarily with the aerial defence of Pakistan, with a secondary role of providing air support to the Pakistan Army and Pakistan Navy when re ...

to F-16AM/BM Block 15 MLU standard. *Modification of the S-2E Tracker Maritime Patrol Aircraft into Fire Fighting Aircraft *

CN-235 The CASA/IPTN CN-235 is a medium-range twin-engined transport aircraft that was jointly developed by CASA of Spain and Indonesian manufacturer IPTN. It is operated as both a regional airliner and military transport; its primary military roles ...

and Black Hawk modifications for the Turkish Special Forces *Modification of

platforms for MPA/MSA missions for the

Turkish Navy The Turkish Naval Forces (), or Turkish Navy (), is the naval warfare service branch of the TAF. The modern naval traditions and customs of the Turkish Navy can be traced back to 10 July 1920, when it was established as the ''Directorate o ...

and

Coast Guard A coast guard or coastguard is a Maritime Security Regimes, maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with cust ...

*Modification and modernization of

Eurocopter AS 532 The Eurocopter AS532 Cougar (now Airbus Helicopters H215M) is a twin-engine, medium-weight, multipurpose helicopter developed by Eurocopter. The AS532 is a development and upgrade of the Aérospatiale SA 330 Puma in its militarized form. It ...

, *Glass Cockpit Retrofit of S-70 helicopters, *Conversion of B737-700 aircraft AEW&C aircraft, *Avionics modernization of C-130 aircraft for the Turkish Air Force (TuAF), * Production and Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) of the center fuselage of

Joint Strike Fighter Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) is a development and acquisition program intended to replace a wide range of existing fighter, strike, and ground attack aircraft for the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy, Canada, Australia, the Netherlan ...

F-35 The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is an American family of single-seat, single-engine, supersonic stealth strike fighters. A multirole combat aircraft designed for both air superiority and strike missions, it also has electronic warf ...

aircraft, *Participating in the design and development of the

A400M The Airbus A400M AtlasNamed after the Greek mythological figure. is a European four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft. It was designed by Airbus Military, now Airbus Defence and Space, as a tactical airlifter with strategic capab ...

military transport and tanker aircraft, *Avionics modernization of T-38 aircraft for the TuAF, *License production of the attack helicopter

Agusta A129 Mangusta The Agusta A129 Mangusta () is an attack helicopter originally designed and produced by Italian company Agusta. It is the first attack helicopter to be designed and produced wholly in Europe. It has continued to be developed by AgustaWestland, t ...

T-129 The TAI/AgustaWestland T129 ATAK is a twin-engine, tandem seat, multi-role, all-weather attack helicopter based on the Agusta A129 Mangusta platform. It was developed by Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) in partnership with Leonardo S.p.A. ...

for the

Turkish Armed Forces The Turkish Armed Forces (TAF; , TSK) are the armed forces, military forces of the Turkey, Republic of Turkey. The TAF consist of the Turkish Army, Land Forces, the Turkish Navy, Naval Forces and the Turkish Air Force, Air Forces. The Chief of ...

(TAF). *Design, development and production of

TAI Hürkuş The TAI Hürkuş (Free Bird) is a tandem two-seat, low-wing, single-engine, turboprop aircraft being produced by Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) as a trainer and ground attack aircraft for the Turkish Armed Forces. The aircraft is named af ...

(Turkish Primary and Basic Training Aircraft) with

EASA The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is an agency of the European Commission with responsibility for civil aviation safety in the European Union. It carries out certification, regulation and standardisation and also performs inve ...

CS-23 certification. *Design, development and production of

Anka Anka or ANKA may refer to: Organisations and companies * Anka Air or AnkAir, a Turkish charter airline from 2005 to 2008 * ANKA news agency, based in Ankara, Turkey * Anka SK, an Ankara-based Turkish ice hockey club * Arnhem, Northern and Kimberle ...

unmanned aerial vehicle for the TuAF. Turkish Aerospace/TUSAS produced 46 F-16s for the Egyptian Air Force between 1993 and 1995 under the agreement signed between the Governments of

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

and the Arab Republic of Egypt. A contract to produce 46 Block 40 F-16C/D's for the Egyptian Air Force was placed with TUSAS Aerospace Industries (TAI) of Turkey. 34 of them will be F-16C's, 12 will be F-16D's. This was carried out under the auspices of the ''Peace Vector IV'' program, and marked the first sale of a foreign-built Fighting Falcon to a third-party nation in the history of the F-16 program. TAI is engaged in manufacturing

aerostructure An aerostructure is a component of an aircraft's airframe. This may include all or part of the fuselage, wings, or flight control surfaces. Companies that specialize in constructing these components are referred to as "aerostructures manufacturer ...

s for fixed and rotary wing, military and commercial aircraft for worldwide customers. TAI is in various partnership arrangements with

AgustaWestland AgustaWestland was an Anglo-Italian helicopter design and manufacturing company, which was a wholly owned subsidiary of Finmeccanica (now known as Leonardo). It was formed in July 2000 as an Anglo-Italian multinational company, when Finmeccani ...

Airbus Airbus SE ( ; ; ; ) is a Pan-European aerospace corporation. The company's primary business is the design and manufacturing of commercial aircraft but it also has separate Airbus Defence and Space, defence and space and Airbus Helicopters, he ...

Alenia Aermacchi Alenia Aermacchi was a company active in the aeronautics sector, with offices and plants in Venegono Superiore, Varese, Turin Airport in San Maurizio Canavese, Province of Turin and Pomigliano d'Arco, Province of Naples. From 1 January 2016, the ...

Boeing The Boeing Company, or simply Boeing (), is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product support s ...

, IAI,

Northrop Grumman Northrop Grumman Corporation is an American multinational Aerospace manufacturer, aerospace and Arms industry, defense company. With 97,000 employees and an annual revenue in excess of $40 billion, it is one of the world's largest Arms industry ...

MD Helicopters MD Helicopters, LLC. (formerly McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Systems) is an American aerospace manufacturer. It produces light utility helicopters for commercial and military use. The company was a subsidiary of Hughes Aircraft until 1984, when Mc ...

Sikorsky Sikorsky or Sikorski may refer to: * Sikorsky (comics), a Marvel Comics character * Sikorsky (crater), a lunar crater * Sikorsky Aircraft, an American aircraft manufacturer People with the surname * Brian Sikorski (born 1974), Major League Basebal ...

Indonesian Aerospace Indonesian Aerospace (IAe) (), is an Indonesian aerospace company involved in aircraft design and the development and manufacture of civilian and military regional commuter aircraft, and a subsidiary of state-owned electronics manufacturer . Th ...

and numerous other companies in aerospace sector. TAI manufactures Section 18 fuselage panels for Airbus 319/320/321 aircraft, wing tips and flight deck panels for

Boeing 737 The Boeing 737 is an American narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Boeing Renton Factory, Renton factory in Washington (state), Washington. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the t ...

aircraft, rear doors and engine cowlings for

Eurocopter EC135 The Airbus Helicopters H135, formerly Eurocopter EC135, is a twin-engine civil light utility helicopter produced by Airbus Helicopters. It is capable of flight under instrument flight rules (IFR) and is outfitted with a digital automatic flig ...

helicopters, MD 902 fuselage for

, horizontal stabilizers, tail rotor pylons and tail booms for

Sikorsky S-70 The Sikorsky S-70 is an American medium transport/utility helicopter family manufactured by Sikorsky Aircraft. It was developed for the United States Army in the 1970s, winning a competition to be designated the Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk, UH-60 ...

A and

MH-60 The Sikorsky S-70 is an American medium transport/utility helicopter family manufactured by Sikorsky Aircraft. It was developed for the United States Army in the 1970s, winning a competition to be designated the UH-60 Black Hawk and spawning a ...

helicopters, horizontal stabilizers for

Sikorsky S-76 The Sikorsky S-76 is a medium-size commercial utility helicopter designed and produced by the American helicopter manufacturer Sikorsky Aircraft. It is the company's first helicopter specifically developed for the civilian market. The S-76 ...

helicopters and AB139 fuselages for

Agusta Agusta was an Italian helicopter manufacturer. It was based in Samarate, Northern Italy. The company was founded by Count Giovanni Agusta in 1923, who flew his first aeroplane in 1907. The MV Agusta motorcycle manufacturer began as an offshoot ...

. Furthermore, TAI manufactures nose landing gear doors for the

Boeing 747 The Boeing 747 is a long-range wide-body aircraft, wide-body airliner designed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes in the United States between 1968 and 2023. After the introduction of the Boeing 707, 707 in October 1958, Pan Am ...

, dorsal fin for 777 and parts/subassembly parts for 737/767/777. It also manufactures seven components of the

helicopter. TAI, which had a single program (the co-production of the F-16 Fighting Falcon) at its establishment phase, is working on over 50 military and commercial programs today. As a partner of the

Airbus Defence and Space Airbus Defence and Space is a division of Airbus SE. Formed in 2014 in the restructuring of European Aeronautic Defence and Space (EADS), Airbus SE comprises the former Airbus Military, Astrium, and divisions. Contributing 21% of Airbus reven ...

, TAI has been participating in the design and development activities of the

Airbus A400M The Airbus A400M AtlasNamed after the Atlas (mythology), Greek mythological figure. is a European four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft. It was designed by Airbus Military, now Airbus Defence and Space, as a tactical airlifter with ...

program with the leading European aerospace companies; namely Airbus (France, Germany, Spain and UK), EADS CASA (Spain) and FLABEL (Belgium) from the beginning of the project. TAI has accepted the production of A350XWB's winglets with the new cooperation. In May 2015 the Turkish regional jet project was launched, which consisted of the indigenous production of two

regional aircraft A regional airliner, commuter airliner or feeder liner is a small airliner that is designed to fly up to 100 passengers on short-haul flights, usually feeding larger carriers' airline hubs from small markets. This class of airliners is typically ...

in different sizes. The 32-seat TRJ-328 jet with a range up to was planned to enter service in 2019. It was a

Fairchild Dornier 328JET The Fairchild-Dornier 328JET is a commuter airliner, based upon the turboprop-powered Dornier 328, developed by the German aircraft manufacturer Dornier Luftfahrt GmbH. It would be the last Dornier-designed aircraft to reach production before ...

-based, modernized aircraft with new cockpit and engines. The larger, 70-seat TRJ-628 jet would be ready in 2023. The project has since been cancelled. In June 2024 news media reported that TAI was responsible for introducing questionable

titanium Titanium is a chemical element; it has symbol Ti and atomic number 22. Found in nature only as an oxide, it can be reduced to produce a lustrous transition metal with a silver color, low density, and high strength, resistant to corrosion in ...

into the supply chain for aircraft parts which ultimately were used to manufacture some

and

passenger planes built between 2019 and 2023. The titanium sold by TAI included falsified authenticity documentation that originated from a metals supplier in China, calling into question whether the titanium was truly aviation-grade. However, Spirit's testing has confirmed that the titanium is the appropriate grade for airplane manufacturers.

Products

Aircraft

* TAI Kaan, stealth twin-engine all-weather fifth generation

air superiority fighter An air superiority fighter (also styled air-superiority fighter) is a fighter aircraft designed to seize control of enemy airspace by establishing tactical dominance (air superiority) over the opposing air force. Air-superiority fighters are pri ...

TAI Hürjet The TAI Hürjet (named after Vecihi Hürkuş) is a single-engine, tandem seat, supersonic advanced jet trainer and light combat aircraft, under development by Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI). The first prototype made its first flight on 25 A ...

, advanced jet trainer and light attack aircraft *

, two-seat, single engine, turboprop aircraft for training and ground attack * TAI General Aviation Aircraft, for airline pilot training

Helicopters

TAI/AgustaWestland T129 ATAK The TAI/AgustaWestland T129 ATAK is a twin-engine, tandem seat, multi-role, all-weather attack helicopter based on the Agusta A129 Mangusta platform. It was developed by Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) in partnership with Leonardo S.p.A. Th ...

, light

attack helicopter An attack helicopter is an armed helicopter with the primary role of an attack aircraft, with the offensive (military), offensive capability of engaging ground targets such as enemy infantry, military vehicles and fortifications. Due to their ...

* TAI T-70, Turkish variants of

i * TAI T625, light

utility helicopter A utility helicopter is a multi-purpose helicopter capable of pursuing a wide array of tasks. They have proven useful in both civilian and military operations, with versatility being their defining trait. Civilian Helicopters play a crucial ...

* TAI T629, medium attack helicopter * TAI T925, heavy utility helicopter * TAI T929 ATAK 2, heavy attack helicopter

Unmanned aerial vehicles

* TAI Aksungur

MALE Male (Planet symbols, symbol: ♂) is the sex of an organism that produces the gamete (sex cell) known as sperm, which fuses with the larger female gamete, or Egg cell, ovum, in the process of fertilisation. A male organism cannot sexual repro ...

ISTAR ISTAR stands for Military intelligence, intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance. In its macroscopic sense, #ISTAR, ISTAR is a practice that links several battlefield functions together to assist a combat force in employ ...

* TAI Anka-A (TIHA-A) (2013),

UAV An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) or unmanned aircraft system (UAS), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft with no human pilot, crew, or passengers onboard, but rather is controlled remotely or is autonomous.De Gruyter Handbook of Drone ...

* TAI Anka-B (TIHA-B) (2013), MALE

* TAI Anka-S, MALE

UCAV An unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV), also known as a combat drone, fighter drone or battlefield UAV, is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that is used for intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance and carries aircr ...

TAI Anka-3 The Anka-3 is a flying wing type stealth UCAV currently in development by Turkish Aerospace Industries. It is one of two Turkish jet-powered stealth UCAVs developed as part of Project MIUS, along with the Bayraktar Kızılelma. Development an ...

flying wing A flying wing is a tailless fixed-wing aircraft that has no definite fuselage, with its crew, payload, fuel, and equipment housed inside the main wing structure. A flying wing may have various small protuberances such as pods, nacelles, blis ...

design

stealth Stealth may refer to: Military *Stealth technology, technology used to conceal ships, aircraft, and missiles **Stealth aircraft, aircraft which use stealth technology ** Stealth ground vehicle, ground vehicles which use stealth technology ** Ste ...

UCAV * TAI Anka-4,

UCAV * TAI Baykuş (2004), tactical surveillance drone *

TAI Gözcü TAI Gözcü is a radio control, radio-controlled short-range tactical drone. Designed, developed and built by Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI), the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is in use by the Turkish Armed Forces for intelligence, surveillan ...

(2007), short-range tactical ISTAR drone * TAI Keklik (2001), target drone for tracking and non-firing exercise * TAI Martı (2003), surveillance drone * TAI Pelikan (IHA-X2), tactical ISTAR drone *

TAI Şimşek TAI Şimşek is a turbojet-powered radio-controlled high-speed target drone designed, developed and built by Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) between 2009 and 2012 for the needs of the Turkish Armed Forces. Şimşek is the Turkish word for "li ...

, high-speed

target drone A target drone is an unmanned aerial vehicle, generally remote controlled, usually used in the training of anti-aircraft crews. One of the earliest drones was the British DH.82 Queen Bee, a variant of the Tiger Moth trainer aircraft operation ...

* TAI Turna (2001), target drone for tracking and live firing * TAI UAV-X1 (1982), surveillance drone

Satellites

Göktürk-1 Göktürk-1 (also Göktürk-1A) is a high resolution Earth observation satellite (greater than 50 cm) designed and developed for the Turkish Ministry of National Defence by the Italian space service company Telespazio with technological in ...

Earth observation satellite An Earth observation satellite or Earth remote sensing satellite is a satellite used or designed for Earth observation (EO) from orbit, including spy satellites and similar ones intended for non-military uses such as environmental monitoring, me ...

Göktürk-2 Göktürk-2 is an Earth observation satellite designed and developed by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK) and built by TÜBİTAK Space Technologies Research Institute (TÜBİTAK UZAY) and Turkish Aerospa ...

(launched 2012), Earth observation satellite *

Göktürk-3 Göktürk-3 is a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) Earth observation satellite that will be designed and developed under prime contractorship of Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) with support of Military Electronic Industries (ASELSAN) and TÜBİ ...

satellite *

Türksat 6A Türksat 6A is Turkey's first fully domestically produced communications satellite, successfully launched on July 8, 2024. History According to an agreement signed on 15 December 2014, the satellite will be developed and manufactured indigeno ...

communications satellite A communications satellite is an artificial satellite that relays and amplifies radio telecommunication signals via a Transponder (satellite communications), transponder; it creates a communication channel between a source transmitter and a Rad ...

TAI operates

Turkish Satellite Assembly, Integration and Test Center Turkish Space Systems, Integration and Test Centre () (USET) is a spacecraft production and testing facility owned by the Ministry of National Defence and operated by Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI). It is located in Ankara, Turkey. The facili ...

References

Notes

External links

* {{authority control Aerospace companies Aircraft manufacturers of Turkey Defence companies of Turkey Government-owned companies of Turkey Ministry of National Defense (Turkey) Manufacturing companies based in Ankara Space program of Turkey Manufacturing companies established in 1984 Science and technology in Turkey Turkish brands Unmanned aerial vehicle manufacturers Turkish companies established in 1984 Unmanned aerial vehicle manufacturers of Turkey