Indonesia May Join Turkey’s Kaan Fighter Program
Turkey’s Kaan fighter could be well on its way to becoming a collaborative project.
Turkey’s upcoming fifth-generation fighter program may have caught the eye of a new co-development partner. Indonesian president Prabowo Subianto announced his nation’s interest in joining the Kaan combat aircraft program following a visit with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, this week.
“We are very thankful. Indonesia wants to take part in the joint development of the fifth-generation fighter jet Kaan.” Prabowo said in Ankara. “We wish to work together with the Turkish industry to develop submarines,” he continued.
While nothing has been confirmed, the potential of this Jakarta-Ankara partnership makes sense considering the existing bilateral cooperation between the two nations. Back in February, Indonesia and Turkey penned thirteen agreements and three pacts covering “culture, disaster management and media.” Since the Turkish government aims to make the Kaan fighter a collaborative effort, Indonesia’s participation would be a big win for Erdogan’s ambition to make Turkey a defense manufacturing powerhouse. This revealed interest could illicit other nations desiring a fifth-generation platform to join the Kaan effort down the line.
Ankara’s quest to acquire a fifth-gen fighter series began with the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program. Turkey was initially one of the co-development nations driving the American-made F-35 Lightning II effort. However, in 2017, Turkey was expelled from the JSF program following its decision to procure the Russian-made S-400 air defense systems. The White House at the time detailed that it could not sell the F-35 to a nation simultaneously using a Russian intelligence collection platform that could potentially learn about its classified capabilities. Once Ankara was kicked out of the F-35 program, Erdogan focused on developing a homegrown near-peer.
The Kaan series was conceptualized back in 2010 and was originally meant to serve as an air superior partner to the F-35. The effort to field this domestically-made jet accelerated once the F-35 dream was officially nixed. Turkish Aerospace Industries and subcontractor BAE Systems are designing the platform from the ground up. Many of the specs and details surrounding the Kaan platform remain under wraps, but state-run media outlets have revealed limited information about the fighter. According to these sources, the new fighter is expected to feature advanced internal weapons, networked drone control, and ground attack functions. Similar to the F-35, the Kaan is being built to carry out air-to-air missions.
Earlier this year, the Kaan prototype debuted at the International Defense Exhibition arms show in Abu Dhabi. At the time, TAI general manager Mehmet Demiroglu noted that “There are lots of interest [from a] number of countries, but these things are taking a lot of time and high-level decisions. It will be a joint program.” Demiroglu also added that the United Arab Emirates has already expressed interest in joining the Kaan’s development. Now that Indonesia has also expressed interest in the series, the Kaan could be well on its way to becoming a collaborative project as Erdogan envisions.
About the Author: Maya Carlin
Maya Carlin, National Security Writer with The National Interest, is an analyst with the Center for Security Policy and a former Anna Sobol Levy Fellow at IDC Herzliya in Israel. She has by-lines in many publications, including The National Interest, Jerusalem Post, and Times of Israel. You can follow her on Twitter: @MayaCarlin. Carlin has over 1,000 articles published over the last several years on various defense issues.
Image: Dimir CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons.