Global interest is increasing for KAAN, one of Turkey’s most important defense industry projects. Mehmet Demiroğlu, General Manager of TAI, announced that the United Arab Emirates is also interested in KAAN, and shared information that a joint air platform could be worked on with this country.
IDEX 2025, one of the world’s most important defense industry exhibitions, has started in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The organization, which attracts great interest from Turkish defence industry companies, also hosts valuable meetings. TAI, which is one of the favorites of the exhibition and has made a name for itself with the works it has accomplished, has become a frequent destination for both UAE officials and high-level delegations from all over the world.
Making special statements to TRT Haber, TAI General Manager Mehmet Demiroğlu shared details about the curious developments for the first time.
Underlining that TAI is a very strong player in the UAE market, Demiroğlu said that they are working on different projects with both public institutions and private companies.
Sharing the information that a contract was signed between TAI and Calidus, a company based in the United Arab Emirates, Demiroğlu said, “In this context, we have reached an agreement on ‘how we can build the Hürkuş together, how we can develop the aircraft they build together’. We will sign this agreement.”
Emphasizing that the UAE is closely interested in the ATAK helicopter, Demiroğlu said, “They had previously tested the ATAK 1. They liked it very much. Then they came to Turkey with a high-level delegation and experienced it in person. They liked the ATAK’s capabilities very much at that time. But then the process slowed down a bit. Now we are trying to speed it up. We had some meetings in this context.”
Mehmet Demiroğlu, General Manager of TAI, reminded that the United Arab Emirates also has serious intentions regarding the ANKA-3, and that the UAE had previously made various initiatives for this platform.
Underlining that they now expect this process to be revived, Demiroğlu said, “We do not intend to proceed only on the ANKA-3. We intend to develop a different platform together. The UAE side is also very warm to this. We will share more good news in the coming days.”
Work is also continuing on the National Fighter Aircraft KAAN, one of the first projects that comes to mind when one thinks of TAI. General Manager Demiroğlu stated that many domestic defense industry companies are working on this project, and said, “It is quite reasonable to get external partners and stakeholders for such a big project.
As reflected in the public opinion, we are working very closely with Saudi Arabia on this issue. There may be developments for other countries as well. Even the United Arab Emirates can be added to the list. Yesterday, they told us this at a high level and said they would be interested.”
Mehmet Demiroğlu added that work is continuing on the second and third prototypes of the KAAN, and said that the second prototype will take off towards the end of this year, and the third prototype will take off at the beginning of the new year. Emphasizing that not only TAI, but also other companies are working very hard to deliver the KAAN on the specified dates, Demiroğlu pointed to 2028 for the first delivery.
Source: TRT Haber
