US President Donald Trump’s visit to Ankara for next week’s NATO summit could help Turkey secure dozens of US-made engines for its KAAN fighter jet program, although analysts say the long-running dispute over Ankara’s removal from the F-35 program is unlikely to be resolved quickly.
The July 7-8 summit, hosted by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, will bring leaders of NATO’s 32 member states to the Turkish capital.
Trump last month suggested he could take steps that would please Erdoğan when asked about Turkey’s efforts to obtain General Electric F110 engines and return to the US-led F-35 fighter jet program.
Analysts said the most likely outcome was progress on the F110 engines, which Turkey needs for the early stages of KAAN, its domestically developed fighter aircraft.
“It’s likely to be the green light for the F110 GE engines for the KAAN fighter plane, about 40 of them,” Sinan Ülgen, director of the İstanbul-based EDAM think tank, told Agence France-Presse. “There had been obstacles to that supply and very possibly those are now being removed.”
Ülgen said Turkey had produced several prototypes flying with F110 engines but needed additional engines to increase the number of KAAN aircraft.
KAAN is a twin-engine fighter jet being developed by Turkish Aerospace Industries to eventually replace part of the Turkish Air Force’s F-16 fleet. Ankara presents the project as a key step toward joining the small group of countries capable of producing fifth-generation combat aircraft.
The engine issue matters because KAAN is central to Turkey’s effort to reduce reliance on foreign defense suppliers, but its early versions still depend on US-made F110 engines. Turkey plans to use a domestically produced engine in later versions, but that project remains at an early stage.
Defense Minister Yaşar Güler said in September that Turkey had received an initial batch of 10 F110 engines and that talks with the United States for 80 more were continuing.
Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said the engine process had been delayed by political approval problems linked to Turkey’s purchase of Russia’s S-400 missile defense system.
Turkey was removed from the F-35 program in 2019 after taking delivery of the S-400s. Washington said the Russian system could compromise the security of the stealth fighter. The United States later imposed sanctions under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) restricting parts of Turkey’s defense industry.
“The CAATSA issue must be resolved,” Fidan said in September. “The US needs to take steps both regarding the F-35 and the engines for KAAN.”
Turkey’s removal from the F-35 program has pushed Ankara to place greater emphasis on domestic defense projects, including KAAN.
“Some argue we should not buy F-35s and invest that money into our own fifth-generation fighter jet program. And that’s exactly what’s happening with President Trump’s decision to export jet engines,” Özgür Ünlühisarcıklı, head of the German Marshall Fund in Ankara, told AFP.
“Without those engines, Turkey cannot produce the KAAN jet,” he said.
Despite the possible progress on KAAN engines, analysts said a return to the F-35 program would be much harder.
For Congress to lift CAATSA sanctions, Turkey would have to resolve the S-400 issue. But transferring the Russian system to a third country would require Moscow’s approval, while returning it to Russia is seen as unlikely.
“The US administration might wish to put this issue behind it and sell Turkey some F-35s, but that will go to Congress and changing the congressional decision won’t be easy,” Mustafa Aydın, an international relations professor at İstanbul’s Kadir Has University, told AFP.
Matthew Bryza, a retired US diplomat and former senior White House and State Department official, said Trump could try to declare the F-35 dispute over, but lifting CAATSA sanctions would still require congressional action.
“Whether he can persuade Congress to do that depends on how much political capital he’s willing to expend,” Bryza told AFP, adding that such a move could be politically costly because of opposition from Turkey’s critics in the Greek and Armenian diasporas.
KAAN is still years away from delivery, but it has already attracted foreign interest. Indonesia has signed a $10 billion deal to buy 48 aircraft, while analysts say the NATO summit could help Turkey promote the project to other potential partners.
Ülgen said there could be interest from Spain and Gulf countries, although he warned that KAAN still had to overcome obstacles before becoming a fully credible option on the international market.
The engine question comes as Turkey’s defense industry has expanded rapidly, with Ankara seeking to increase exports and reduce dependence on foreign suppliers. Turkish companies have drawn growing attention for drones, armored vehicles, air defense systems, electronic warfare equipment and naval platforms, helped by higher global military spending and government-backed programs such as KAAN and the KIZILELMA unmanned combat aircraft.
© Agence France-Presse