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Turkish Aerospace Industries

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Turkish Aerospace Inc.
Native name
Türk Havacılık Ve Uzay Sanayi Anonim Şirketi (TUSAŞ)
Company typeIncorporated company
IndustryAerospace and arms industry
PredecessorTurkish Aircraft Industries Corporation
TUSAS Aerospace Industries, Inc.
Founded16 August 1925 (16 August 1925)[a]
28 June 1973[b]
HeadquartersKahramankazan,
Ankara
,
Turkey[1]
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Ömer Cihad Vardan[2] (chairman)
Mehmet Demiroğlu[3] (president & CEO)
ProductsAircraft, helicopters, satellites, unmanned aerial vehicles
Revenue₺63.575 billion[4] (2023)
OwnerTurkish Armed Forces Foundation (54.49%)
Defence Industry Agency (45.45%)
Turkish Aeronautical Association (0.06%)
Number of employees
15,392 (January 2024)
DivisionsAerostructures Group
Aircraft Group
Helicopter Group
UAS Group
Space Systems Group
Websitewww.tusas.com

Turkish Aerospace Industries Inc. (Turkish: Türk Havacılık ve Uzay Sanayi A.Ş., abbr. TAI or TUSAŞ) is a state-owned[5] arms company in Turkey.

History

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

On 16 August 1925, the Turkish Aircraft and Engine Limited Company (Turkish: Tayyare ve Motor Türk Anonim Şirketi, TOMTAŞ) factory was founded in Kayseri, Turkey.[6] The company received its current name in 1973 and was incorporated into the Ministry of Industry and Technology of Turkey in order to reduce the "foreign dependence" of the country's defense industry.[7][8]

Their first project was to make the new F-16 from the US ready for the Turkish Air Force. In 1984 the US companies Lockheed Martin and General Electric joined in, with TAI producing its first F-16 in 1987.[9] TAI produced 240 F-16 aircraft for Turkey and assembled 46 F-16s for the Egyptian Air Force in the 1980s and 1990s.[10] Because of disagreements, TUSAŞ was not very active in the time span from 1984 to 2005.[citation needed]

In 2005 Turkish private persons and Turkish companies bought the shares of Lockheed Martin and General Electric. The new owner agreed to put the company back under control of the Turkish state.

On 23 October 2024, an attack was launched on the company's offices in Kahramankazan, Ankara Province, leaving five people dead and 22 others injured.[11] The two perpetrators of the attacks were also killed. Later, the PKK admitted to committing the assault.[12]

Projects

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Model of reconnaissance and military satellite Göktürk-2 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.

TAI's Hürkuş basic trainer aircraft has been granted air worthiness type certification, the company announced at the 2016 Farnborough International Airshow.

Major programs

[edit]
TAI Kaan
TAI Anka during the IDEF 2015
T129 ATAK helicopter of the Turkish Army during the IDEF 2015
TAI Aksungur at Teknofest 2019
President Abdullah Gül and Ilham Aliyev at Turkish Aerospace Industries, 2013

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.[26][27][28][29] 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.[30]

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,[31] 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.[32] 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.[33][34] The project has since been cancelled.

In June 2024, news media reported that TAI was responsible for introducing questionable titanium into the supply chain for aircraft parts which ultimately were used to manufacture some Boeing and Airbus passenger planes built between 2019 and 2023.[35] The titanium sold by TAI included falsified authenticity documentation that originated from a metals supplier in China, calling into question whether the titanium was truly aviation-grade. However, Spirit's testing has confirmed that the titanium is the appropriate grade for airplane manufacturers.

Products

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Aircraft

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Helicopters

[edit]

Unmanned aerial vehicles

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Satellites

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TAI operates Turkish Satellite Assembly, Integration and Test Center.

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Turkish Aerospace: Facilities".
  2. ^ "Ömer Cihad VARDAN". Turkish Aerospace Industries. Retrieved 10 August 2024.
  3. ^ "Mehmet DEMİROĞLU, Ph.D." Turkish Aerospace Industries. Retrieved 10 August 2024.
  4. ^ "TUSAŞ - Türk Havacılık ve Uzay A.Ş." Fortune Turkey. 2024. Retrieved 27 October 2024.
  5. ^ "About Us". Retrieved 23 October 2024.
  6. ^ "The First P-24A Aircraft Produced at Kayseri Aircraft Factory is Exhibited on the Square". raillynews.com. Retrieved 2023-05-24.
  7. ^ "Hakkımızda" [About Us]. TUSAŞ (in Turkish). Retrieved 2024-10-25.
  8. ^ "Three killed, 14 injured in terror attack on Turkish aerospace company". CNN. 2024-10-23. Retrieved 2024-10-23.
  9. ^ "F-16 Türkiye". Lockheed Martin. Retrieved 2024-10-25.
  10. ^ "Lockheed Martin Sells Its Share of Turkish Joint Venture to Turkish Aircraft Industries, Inc. (TUSAS)". Media – Lockheed Martin. Retrieved 2024-10-24.
  11. ^ "At least five killed in attack on aerospace firm near Turkey's Ankara". Al Jazeera. 2024-10-24. Retrieved 2024-10-24.
  12. ^ "Turkey: Kurdish militant group behind attack on aerospace firm". BBC. Retrieved 26 October 2024.
  13. ^ "Turk Hava Kuvvetleri Turkish Air Force – TUAF". f-16.net. Archived from the original on 2 December 2017. Retrieved 4 Jun 2010.
  14. ^ "TAI DELIVERS RJAF'S FIRST F-16 A/C MODERNIZED AT ITS FACILITIES". tai.com.tr. 17 Oct 2007. Archived from the original on 2009-10-03. Retrieved 4 Jun 2010.
  15. ^ "Tusas Aerospace Industries (TAI) from Turkey and EUROCOPTER Extend their Cooperation in the Super Puma / Cougar Helicopter Family". eurocopter.com. 7 Sep 2004. Archived from the original on 2011-01-08. Retrieved 4 Jun 2010.
  16. ^ "Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) Delivers First S-70i BLACK HAWK Helicopter Tailcone". sikorsky.com. 28 Apr 2009. Archived from the original on 5 November 2013. Retrieved 4 Jun 2010.
  17. ^ "737 AEW&C Wedgetail Airborne Early Warning and Control Aircraft, USA". airforce-technology.com. Retrieved 4 Jun 2010.
  18. ^ "The first C-130 aircraft, the avionics modernization of which will be realized by TAI, arrived at TAI's facilities". tai.com.tr. 27 Dec 2007. Archived from the original on 2010-06-04. Retrieved 4 Jun 2010.
  19. ^ "TAI delivers first composite parts for F-35". reinforcedplastics.com. 5 Mar 2009. Archived from the original on 2010-10-24. Retrieved 4 Jun 2010.
  20. ^ Andrea Shalat (December 11, 2014). "Italy, Turkey to service F-35 jet, engine in Europe: Pentagon". Reuters.com. Retrieved January 24, 2017.
  21. ^ "Getting Ready for Takeoff". defensenews.com. 18 Jan 2010. Archived from the original on 31 July 2012. Retrieved 4 Jun 2010.
  22. ^ "Modernization & Modification Program – T-38 AVIONICS MODERNIZATION". defenceproducts.ssm.gov.tr. 1 Sep 2009. Archived from the original on 14 August 2011. Retrieved 4 Jun 2010.
  23. ^ "T-129 fighter chopper aces maiden test flight". todayszaman.com. 29 Sep 2009. Archived from the original on 2012-10-05. Retrieved 4 Jun 2010.
  24. ^ "TAI'S TURKISH PRIMARY AND BASIC TRAINER AIRCRAFT (HURKUS) TO BE DISPLAYED AT 47TH PARIS AIR SHOW". tai.com.tr. 6 Jun 2007. Archived from the original on 2011-07-22. Retrieved 4 Jun 2010.
  25. ^ "TAI Unveils ANKA Unmanned Airplane". trDefence. Retrieved 20 July 2010.
  26. ^ "EGYPT F-16 Program | Turkish Aerospace". www.tusas.com. Retrieved 2020-09-12.
  27. ^ "Arabian Aerospace – Phantom wing finally re-equipped with F-16s". www.arabianaerospace.aero. Retrieved 2020-09-23.
  28. ^ "Turkey – F-16 Peace Onyx". www.globalsecurity.org. Retrieved 2020-09-23.
  29. ^ "F-16 Air Forces – Egypt". www.f-16.net. Retrieved 2020-09-23.
  30. ^ "Lockheed Martin Sells Its Share of Turkish Joint Venture to Turkish Aircraft Industries, Inc. (TUSAS)". Media – Lockheed Martin. Retrieved 2020-09-23.
  31. ^ "TAI's support to local sub-tier industry development". tai.com.tr. 18 Feb 2005. Archived from the original on 2011-07-22. Retrieved 4 Jun 2010.
  32. ^ "TAI in deal to supply fuselage sections for AgustaWestland AB139". flightglobal.com. 27 Apr 2004. Retrieved 4 Jun 2010.
  33. ^ "Turkish Regional Jets Launched – TRJ-328 & 628". Airliners. 2015-05-27. Retrieved 2015-05-31.
  34. ^ "İşte yerli yolcu uçağının teknik özellikleri". Sabah (in Turkish). 2015-05-27. Retrieved 2015-05-31.
  35. ^ Walker, Mark (2024-06-14). "F.A.A. Investigating How Questionable Titanium Got Into Boeing and Airbus Jets". The New York Times. Washington. Retrieved 2024-06-15.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  36. ^ "Turkey to open contract negotiations with TAI for the serial production of the Hürkus Trainer Aircraft". January 4, 2014.
  37. ^ "TÜRK HAVAYOLLARI İLE TUSAŞ ARASINDA 20 UÇAKLIK ANLAŞMA SAĞLANDI". www.defenceturkey.com. Retrieved 2023-05-24.

Notes

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  1. ^ as the Turkish Aircraft and Engine Limited Company
  2. ^ current form
[edit]
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