Türkiye has officially announced a landmark defense agreement with Indonesia to supply 48 KAAN fifth-generation fighter jets, marking the largest defense export contract in the nation’s history. This comprehensive deal goes beyond procurement to include extensive collaboration on production engineering, technology transfer, and local assembly, strengthening bilateral defense ties and underscoring Türkiye’s growing role in the global aerospace market.
The KAAN fighter, developed indigenously by Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) under the stewardship of the Presidency of Defense Industries (SSB), represents Türkiye’s first homegrown fifth-generation combat aircraft. It is designed to operate effectively in contested and high-threat environments, equipped for multirole missions encompassing air superiority, ground attack, and electronic warfare.
Featuring cutting-edge stealth characteristics such as low observability and internal weapons bays, the KAAN integrates advanced systems including an active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, AI-driven avionics for enhanced situational awareness, infrared search and track (IRST), and sophisticated electronic warfare (EW) suites. This agreement highlights a milestone achievement for Türkiye’s defense industry, both technologically and strategically.
