Türkiye's KAAN stealth fighter jet dominates global headlines

Following the successful first flight of the national combat aircraft KAAN on February 21st, the interest and praise for Türkiye's advancements in the defense industry continue in the world media. The national combat aircraft KAAN, produced by Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI), made history with its first flight after successfully passing ejection seat tests, full-scale static tests, inertial and static tests of control surfaces, landing gear drop tests, avionics system tests in the system integration laboratory, and fuel tests. Popular Mechanics, one of the prestigious magazines in the U.S., conducted an analysis comparing KAAN with F-35 and F-22. In the analysis by Sebastien Roblin, he used the phrase 'Turks' first combat aircraft made its historic flight, Ankara's new 'Titan' took to the skies.' Roblin emphasized the difficulties of building a modern and fifth-generation aircraft, highlighting that KAAN plays a critical role in Türkiye's plan to develop a self-sufficient army. The article mentions that 'KAAN generally resembles the U.S.'s F-22A Raptor stealth fighter. The aircraft, which has an aluminum nose and titanium center body, has surfaces coated with carbons initially produced by Turkish companies for F-35 jets.' It also states that KAAN will be in use until 2070 after entering serial production. Roblin reported that Türkiye plans to add artificial intelligence, just like South Korea's KF-21 Boramae fighter jet. The analysis emphasized that KAAN represents Türkiye's bold entry into advanced warfare technologies and that with a potentially indigenous-produced fighter jet, its military capabilities could reach a different level. Roblin pointed out that the most important feature of KAAN is its 'independence,' highlighting that Türkiye is now capable of producing its own aircraft regardless of its relationship with the U.S. and Germany, enabling it to act independently from these two countries. The analysis, which used the phrase 'A new titan, soaring into the skies, signaling a bold entry into advanced warfare technology for a country,' has received widespread attention for its praise-filled comments about KAAN.