TSAMTO, December 6. Ankara is counting on cooperation with the Russian Federation on the national fighter development program. This, as RIA Novosti reports, was stated by the head of the Directorate of the Defense Industry of Turkey, Ismail Demir.
"There are many points of cooperation in our negotiations with Russia. They include some issues related to the development of our national fighter, which will leave the hangar in 2023. There is a type of engine and certain systems that we have chosen. But over time there will be changes, development, updating of certain systems. Negotiations with Russia may also take place during this process," the Hurriyet newspaper quotes I. Demir.
Earlier, Turkish Minister of Industry and Technology Mustafa Varank told RIA Novosti that Ankara does not rule out the possibility of buying Russian Su-35 and Su-57 fighters, but the priority is to develop its own new generation fighter.
In turn, the CEO of the leading Turkish aerospace company TUSAS, Temel Kotil, told RIA Novosti that the Turkish national fighter will make its first flight in 2025, and in 2029 it is planned to start delivering it to the armed forces of the country.
