Turkey has achieved a major milestone with its indigenous Hürjet trainer and is now working towards flying its first indigenously designed and developed jet fighter. Pakistan is progressing in its efforts to design and build original naval solutions. India’s Project 75 submarine continues to make waves with both a new ship and a plan to integrate an indigenous air-independent propulsion (AIP) system.
Turkish Aerospace Carries Out Test Run of Hürjet’s Engine
On 02 February, Turkish Aerospace / Türk Havacılık ve Uzay Sanayi A.Ş. (TAI) announced that it successfully carried out the test-engine run of its Hürjet trainer. According to TAI, the test was a major milestone and that the Hürjet is nearing its maiden test flight, which is scheduled to take place in March of this year.
The TAI Hürjet is a next-generation lead-in fighter trainer (LIFT) and lightweight multirole combat aircraft. Commissioned by Turkey’s Presidency of Defense Industries (SSB) in 2017, the Hürjet was envisaged as a successor for Turkey’s aging T-37s in the advanced training and fighter conversion roles.
In terms of design, the Hürjet is comparable to the Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) T-50. In fact, both the Hürjet and the T-50 share the same turbofan model, i.e., the GE F404. Like the T-50, TAI is also developing the Hürjet as a lightweight fighter capable of deploying air-to-air and air-to-surface munitions.
While primarily designed for the Turkish Air Force, the SSB and TAI have also marketed the Hürjet overseas to potential export markets, especially those already engaged with the Turkish defence industry in other areas, like Malaysia, Azerbaijan, Pakistan, and others.
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