Turkish Aerospace Industries

Turkish Aircraft and Engine Limited Company (Tayyare ve Motor Türk Anonim Şirketi, TOMTAŞ) in the early 20th century

On 15 August 1925, the Turkish Aircraft and Engine Limited Company (Tayyare ve Motor Türk Anonim Şirketi, TOMTAŞ) factory was founded in Kayseri, Turkey.[2]

Model of reconnaissance and military satellite Göktürk-2 at the stand of TAI during the IDEF 2015

TAI's experience includes the licensed production of General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon jets, CASA/IPTN CN-235 light transport/maritime patrol/surveillance aircraft, SIAI-Marchetti SF.260 trainers, Cougar AS-532 search and rescue (SAR), combat search and rescue (CSAR) and utility helicopters as well as the design and development of Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), target drones and agricultural aircraft.

TAI's core business also includes modernization, modification and systems integration programs and after sales support of both fixed and rotary wing military and commercial aircraft that are in the inventory of Turkey and its allies.

Turkish Aerospace Industries' (TAI's) Hurkus basic trainer aircraft has been granted air worthiness type certification, the company announced at the 2016 Farnborough International Airshow.

TF-X Project

TAI Anka at the stand of TAI during the IDEF 2015

T129 ATAK helicopter of the Turkish Army at the stand of TAI during the IDEF 2015

TAI Aksungur at Teknofest 2019

Abdullah Gül and Ilham Aliyev at Turkish Aerospace Industries, 2013

• Electronic warfare retrofit and structural modifications on Turkish Air Force (TuAF) F-16s.[3]
• MLU, Falcon-Up and Falcon Star Modifications on the Royal Jordanian Air Force (RJAF) F-16s,[4]
• Modifications of 41 F-16A/B Block 15 aircraft of the Pakistan Air Force to F-16AM/BM Block 15 MLU standard.
• Modification of the S-2E Tracker Maritime Patrol Aircraft into Fire Fighting Aircraft
• CN-235 and Black Hawk modifications for the Turkish Special Forces
• Modification of CN-235 platforms for MPA/MSA missions for the Turkish Navy and Coast Guard
• Modification and modernization of Eurocopter AS 532,[5]
• Glass Cockpit Retrofit of S-70 helicopters,[6]
• Conversion of B737-700 aircraft AEW&C aircraft,[7]
• Avionics modernization of C-130 aircraft for the Turkish Air Force (TuAF),[8]
• Production and Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) of the center fuselage of Joint Strike Fighter F-35 aircraft,[9][10]
• Participating in the design and development of the A400M military transport and tanker aircraft,[11]
• Avionics modernization of T-38 aircraft for the TuAF,[12]
• License production of the attack helicopter Agusta A129 Mangusta as T-129 for the Turkish Armed Forces (TAF).[13]
• Design, development and production of TAI Hürkuş (Turkish Primary and Basic Training Aircraft) with EASA CS-23 certification.[14]
• Design, development and production of Anka unmanned aerial vehicle for the TuAF.[15]

Turkish Aerospace/TUSAS produced 46 F-16s for the Egyptian Air Force between 1993 and 1995 under the agreement signed between the Governments of Turkey and the Arab Republic of Egypt.[16][17][18][19] A contract to produce 46 Block 40 F-16C/D's for the Egyptian Air Force was placed with TUSAS Aerospace Industries (TAI) of Turkey. 34 of them will be F-16C's, 12 will be F-16D's. This was carried out under the auspices of the Peace Vector IV program, and marked the first sale of a foreign-built Fighting Falcon to a third-party nation in the history of the F-16 program.[20]

TAI is engaged in manufacturing aerostructures for fixed and rotary wing, military and commercial aircraft for worldwide customers. TAI is in various partnership arrangements with AgustaWestland, Airbus, Alenia Aermacchi, Boeing, IAI, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, MD Helicopters, Sikorsky, Indonesian Aerospace and numerous other companies in aerospace sector.

TAI manufactures Section 18 fuselage panels for Airbus 319/320/321 aircraft, wing tips and flight deck panels for Boeing 737 aircraft,[21] rear doors and engine cowlings for Eurocopter EC135 helicopters, MD 902 fuselage for MD Helicopters, horizontal stabilizers, tail rotor pylons and tail booms for Sikorsky S-70A and MH-60 helicopters, horizontal stabilizers for Sikorsky S-76 helicopters and AB139 fuselages for Agusta.[22] Furthermore, TAI manufactures nose landing gear doors for the Boeing 747, dorsal fin for 777 and parts/subassembly parts for 737/767/777. It also manufactures seven components of the Eurocopter AS 532 helicopter.

TAI, which had a single program (the co-production of the F-16 Fighting Falcon) at its establishment phase, is working on over 50 military and commercial programs today. As a partner of the Airbus Defence and Space, TAI has been participating in the design and development activities of the Airbus A400M program with the leading European aerospace companies; namely Airbus (France, Germany, Spain and UK), EADS CASA (Spain) and FLABEL (Belgium) from the beginning of the project. TAI has accepted the production of A350XWB's winglets with the new cooperation.

In May 2015, the Turkish regional jet project was launched, which consisted of the indigenous production of two regional aircraft in different sizes. The 32-seat TRJ-328 jet with a range up to 2,000 nmi (2,300 mi; 3,700 km) was planned to enter service in 2019. It was a Fairchild Dornier 328JET-based, modernized aircraft with new cockpit and engines. The larger, 70-seat TRJ-628 jet would be ready in 2023.[23][24] The project has since been cancelled.

• TEI

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Turkish Aerospace Industries.

• Official website