TSAMTO, December 8. Azerbaijan is likely to become the second foreign customer of the Hurkus training aircraft / light attack aircraft manufactured by Turkish Aerospace Industries.
According to Defense News, the head of the Directorate of Defense Industry of Turkey (SSB) Ismail Demir said on December 4 that there is a great interest in Hurkus in Azerbaijan. "We will soon see important events (regarding the export of aircraft to Azerbaijan – ed.)," I. Demir said.
According to Turkish Ambassador to Baku Jahit Bagchi, the plane passed flight tests in Azerbaijan just a day before I. Demir's statement. The commander of the Azerbaijani Air Force, Lieutenant General Ramiz Tahirov, attended the event in Baku using two Hurkus aircraft.
Earlier this year, Niger became the first foreign customer of the Hurkus TCB. On November 19, the Public Relations Department of the Turkish President announced on its website that this African country will also acquire Bayraktar TB2 unmanned aerial vehicles and armored vehicles for the armed forces and special services.
According to a Defense News source, the Azerbaijani government is interested in acquiring an armed version of the Hurjet, which is an improved version of the Hurkus turboprop equipped with a single jet engine.
Turkish Aerospace Industries announced the Hurjet program in 2018, the first flight of the aircraft is scheduled to take place in 2022. It is planned that the length of the Hurjet will be 13.4 m, the wingspan will be 11 m, the aircraft will be able to reach a maximum speed of 1.2 M, and its practical ceiling will be 45,000 feet (13,720 m). The UBS will be able to carry up to 3,000 kg of payload, including ammunition, radar and detection equipment.
The Hurkus-C, an armed variant of the basic Hurkus version, is equipped with Turkish-designed ammunition, including CIRIT, TEBER, HGK and LGK. It can also use INS/GPS guided bombs, conventional bombs, unguided missiles.
The most vulnerable parts of the fuselage of the armed variant "Hurkus-C" are armored. The aircraft is equipped with a self-defense system, a new data transmission channel, a capsule with EO/IR equipment, an external fuel tank, and has modern avionics. The payload weight is 1500 kg on seven external suspension units.
