(DEFENCE SECURITY ASIA) — Türkiye’s TF-35000 fighter engine gives the KAAN stealth fighter a path to domestic propulsion, with a 35,000-pound afterburning thrust target that could improve climb and acceleration while giving Ankara more control over fleet sustainment and export decisions.

Reports of a November 2026 ground test have put that ambition in the spotlight because a run of a complete engine would give Turkish engineers their first opportunity to validate the integrated hardware under power ahead of flight qualification.

The reported November window falls within the programme’s 2026 ground-test schedule, although readiness for a complete-engine run that month remains unconfirmed and the claim of 80 percent more power at high altitude still lacks public test data.

The twin-engine KAAN can open its flight envelope on the General Electric F110-GE-129 while Türkiye develops the TF-35000, allowing engineers to advance the airframe and mission systems on one track and mature the domestic propulsion system on another.

TEI General Manager Mahmut Faruk Akşit identified critical design review as a milestone reached around February 2026, establishing a design baseline against which Turkish engineers can assess prototype performance and refine the components that will govern engine durability.

Turkish Aerospace Industries chief executive Mehmet Demiroğlu has placed TF-35000-powered KAAN aircraft around 2033, a timetable that gives the programme several years to convert a ground-test engine into a qualified installation and prepare the supply chain for serial production.

Initial Block 10 deliveries targeted from late 2028 or early 2029 would give the Turkish Air Force a chance to begin its F-16 replacement and build operating experience on KAAN before later blocks introduce the domestic engine.

The 2026 United States notification covering roughly 80 additional F110 engines supports that transition by providing a route to equip early aircraft, with deliveries and the number of engines held as spares set to shape the first fleet’s sortie capacity.

Indonesia’s 48-aircraft order gives Türkiye an opportunity to establish KAAN in the Indo-Pacific, where Jakarta’s preference for Turkish propulsion ties the fighter’s appeal to Ankara’s ability to qualify the TF-35000 and sustain it far from its production base.

The separate 42,000-pound GÜÇHAN project adds another route for Türkiye to develop high-temperature turbine materials and manufacturing expertise, while the TF-35000 remains the designated KAAN engine and offers the clearer route from industrial research to an operational fighter.

For Ankara, bringing engine upgrades and overhaul under domestic control could make later KAAN blocks easier to sustain through disruptions in foreign supply, with the strategic payoff depending on the rate at which Turkish facilities can return engines to service.

From NATO’s southeastern flank to Southeast Asia, the prospect of a Turkish-powered KAAN gives planners a reason to watch engine qualification and production alongside airframe deliveries, because those milestones will determine how much autonomy Türkiye can offer operators.

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What 35,000 Pounds of Thrust Could Give KAAN

The TF-35000 is a low-bypass afterburning turbofan designed to deliver 35,000 pounds-force, or about 156 kilonewtons, per engine, placing it in the F-22’s F119 thrust class while leaving its installed performance and durability to be established through qualification.

Against the roughly 29,000 to 31,000 pounds-force cited for the interim F110, the TF-35000 target implies about 13 to 21 percent more nominal afterburning thrust, with the exact margin depending on which reference rating is used for the comparison.

Assessing the claimed high-altitude advantage would require measurements at comparable altitude, Mach number, inlet conditions and power settings, because the nominal afterburning ratings alone cannot establish how much installed thrust either engine retains as the fighter climbs or accelerates.

For KAAN, the larger thrust target offers a route to better climb and acceleration margins as production aircraft carry more mission equipment, although the gain in combat radius or persistence will depend on fuel consumption and how often crews need afterburner.

Supercruise, sustained supersonic flight without afterburner, remains a design goal that depends on dry thrust, installed losses and airframe drag, with weapons configuration and flight conditions determining whether the capability would be available on missions for which it matters.

Public dry-thrust and specific fuel consumption data are insufficient for a meaningful comparison of sustained supersonic performance or range, so the F119-class rating is most useful as an indication of design scale rather than a predictor of KAAN’s operating envelope.

Infrared signature management is another stated objective, but the operational result will depend on the installed exhaust and airframe treatment across power settings, especially where afterburner use to meet an acceleration requirement could increase the aircraft’s thermal visibility.

High-temperature superalloys, thermal barrier coatings and turbine cooling are intended to let the engine sustain demanding operating temperatures, with the practical payoff measured in how long components retain their properties across repeated cycles and how often maintainers must replace them.

Three-dimensional aerodynamic design and digital engine controls have to translate design efficiency into stable response during manoeuvres, when changing airflow through KAAN’s intakes can test compressor margins and expose limitations that a steady engine-stand run would leave unresolved.

If the TF-35000 combines its thrust target with durable components and efficient fuel burn, later KAAN squadrons could gain both acceleration margin in flight and more serviceable engines between sorties, two benefits that depend on different measures of performance.

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KAAN’s Prototype Flights Lay the Groundwork for Turkish Power

KAAN’s P0 demonstrator flew in February and May 2024 on F110 engines, opening a limited flight envelope and giving the Turkish programme an airborne starting point from which to test progressively more representative airframes before the domestic engine becomes available.

The more production-representative P1 completed system checks and low-speed taxi work in 2026, with high-speed taxi and ground clearance governing its first-flight prospects because the revised aircraft must prove its handling and systems integration before further envelope expansion.

Demiroğlu’s target of flying P1 before the end of 2026 makes that aircraft the immediate measure of KAAN’s progress, with a successful sortie opening a route to testing the revised design under aerodynamic and structural loads that taxi trials cannot reproduce.

P2 is advancing in parallel, and the plan for six development aircraft could allow engineers to divide flight-control, avionics and mission-system work across the test fleet, reducing the degree to which a single airframe’s availability governs the pace of trials.

Revised intakes, aerodynamics and landing gear distinguish the newer prototypes from P0, while provisions for more advanced avionics give the programme a platform to evaluate sensor and aircraft integration before trying to qualify those systems in a deliverable configuration.

The planned ASELSAN MURAD active electronically scanned array radar, internal weapons bays and Turkish munitions add separate integration demands, meaning that readiness for combat tasks will depend on sensor and weapons trials as well as on propulsion and basic flight clearance.

Roughly ten F110 engines are described as available for prototype work, a pool whose practical value will depend on spare coverage and overhaul turnaround as concurrent trials increase demand for serviceable engines across the programme’s twin-engine test aircraft.

An F110-powered prototype can establish flight-control and mission-system baselines, yet later substitution of the TF-35000 will reopen propulsion-specific questions because changes in engine response, airflow and heat rejection can alter how the integrated aircraft behaves under comparable test conditions.

If P1 and P2 reach flight testing close together, Turkish Aerospace could collect more data in parallel and isolate aircraft-specific faults faster, although the speed of resolving shared problems would still depend on engineering changes and the clearance of modified hardware.

Early flight progress would help Ankara prepare for pilot conversion and initial basing, giving the Turkish Air Force time to build maintenance and training capacity ahead of fielding serviceable aircraft with cleared weapons in units capable of recurring frontline sorties.

From First Ground Run to a Turkish Engine in Service

The TEI and TRMOTOR effort moved from industrial cooperation through public design disclosure in 2025 to critical design review in early 2026, creating a basis for prototype manufacture under the oversight of Türkiye’s Presidency of Defense Industries.

The mid-2026 consolidation under TEI Teknoloji brings development resources into a common structure, with its operational value resting on whether design changes, manufacturing feedback and qualification findings can be reconciled quickly enough to protect the engine and aircraft schedules.

Experience from the smaller TF6000 and TF10000 programmes gives Türkiye a base in turbine design and manufacturing, while scaling to a 35,000-pound fighter engine raises the burden of proving hot-section life, compressor stability and repeatable production across full-size hardware.

A first complete-engine ground run would give Türkiye a platform to measure how its compressor, turbine and digital controls work together under power, with progressive testing establishing which components or control settings need refinement before the engine advances toward flight clearance.

Endurance and thermal cycling will influence how much maintenance the resulting fleet needs, since a hot section that reaches its performance target but wears quickly would increase spare-module holdings and reduce the number of engines available across the overhaul cycle.

Installation brings another set of dependencies, including inlet compatibility, mounting loads and engine-control coordination, because an engine that meets its stand requirements must also remain stable as KAAN changes speed, altitude and attitude across the aircraft’s intended envelope.

The move to KAAN Block 30 and later aircraft also links the engine schedule to factory output, since qualification units may establish the design while serial production must show that component quality, assembly tolerances and test results are repeatable across successive batches.

An early-2030s fielding date therefore depends on how far engine qualification and manufacturing preparation can proceed concurrently, with major findings during endurance or installed trials capable of forcing redesigns that carry through to both aircraft integration and deliveries to customers.

A mixed fleet of F110 and TF-35000 aircraft would create distinct engine logistics requirements even if the fighters share airframe systems, because spare modules, diagnostic equipment, training and overhaul arrangements must match the powerplant installed on each production block.

The strategic return arrives when Türkiye can keep engines serviceable during prolonged demand, making domestic repair throughput and access to replacement hot-section parts central to whether industrial control translates into more dependable combat availability when external supply is disrupted.

How Domestic Propulsion Could Strengthen Türkiye’s Air Force and Exports

The F110-GE-129 links early KAAN production to an engine family already familiar to Türkiye through its F-16 fleet, offering experience in sustainment while preserving dependence on American supply and applicable export controls at the start of the fighter’s service life.

The congressional review window for the proposed sale of roughly 80 F110s closed without a blocking resolution, easing an immediate procurement constraint while leaving the delivery timetable and the allocation of engines between aircraft production and sustainment to govern availability.

At two engines per fighter, 80 units equate to 40 aircraft sets before spare holdings, replacements or other allocations, illustrating why the size of the notified sale alone cannot establish how many KAANs the Turkish Air Force could sustain in service.

With roughly 20 early aircraft envisaged across the 2028–2030 period, the first production tranche would begin a phased transition, leaving Türkiye’s existing fighters to carry much of the operational load while KAAN crews, maintenance units and weapons clearances mature.

For Ankara, the benefit of this bridge is the ability to develop a low-observable fighter force while the Turkish engine matures, with the cost measured in continued exposure to external permissions and the need to provision successive propulsion configurations.

Indonesia’s 48-aircraft order gives that trade-off an export dimension, because an F110-powered configuration would raise questions about U.S. approvals while the preferred domestic-engine configuration depends on Türkiye meeting a later qualification and production schedule for the TF-35000.

The Indonesian package has been valued in reports at US$10 billion to US$15 billion, a range that leaves the precise commercial terms uncertain while indicating the scale of Jakarta’s exposure to changes in aircraft configuration, engine delivery and support.

A delay to the Turkish engine could complicate Jakarta’s force planning even if KAAN airframes become available on time, since basing, training and provisioning decisions depend on when an agreed configuration can arrive with a viable maintenance and spare-parts package.

Domestic propulsion could give Ankara greater discretion over engine upgrades, maintenance and export approvals, although the degree of autonomy for the complete aircraft would still depend on the origins and restrictions attached to other subsystems in the selected configuration.

Türkiye could build a lasting position in Southeast Asia’s fighter market if it aligns domestic KAAN induction with deliveries abroad and provides overseas operators with overhaul capacity and a dependable spares pipeline once the first aircraft enter service.

GÜÇHAN Broadens Türkiye’s Fighter Engine Expertise

Türkiye’s Ministry of National Defence research and development centre unveiled GÜÇHAN at SAHA EXPO in May 2026, giving the country a second high-thrust afterburning turbofan programme alongside the TF-35000 and widening its options for future aircraft propulsion development.

Its reported 42,000 pounds-force of afterburning thrust approaches the F-35’s F135 class on nominal rating, while the published 46.5-inch maximum diameter, 420-pound-per-second airflow and 0.68 bypass ratio identify parameters that would materially affect any airframe integration study.

Defence Minister Yaşar Güler and ministry research and development director Nilüfer Kuzulu described six prototypes, a hardware count that suggests scope for parallel test work while leaving the engines’ configuration, endurance and readiness for qualification to be established through published results.

The ministry’s claim that single-crystal turbine blades were designed and manufactured domestically points to a capacity that could reduce reliance on imported hot-section technology, with its fleet value depending on whether consistent quality and component life can be demonstrated at scale.

Qualification and calibration testing were planned for 2026, but a November start remains unconfirmed, making sustained test results more informative for assessing maturity than the public display or the number of prototypes associated with the programme at its unveiling.

KAAN was sized around the 35,000-pound thrust class, so integrating GÜÇHAN would require analysis of inlet flow, mounting loads and centre of gravity, with changes to those parameters potentially driving structural modifications and a new round of flight-control qualification.

Even a workable physical fit would leave exhaust geometry, cooling and low-observable integration to be resolved, because a propulsion change can affect both thermal signature and the external shaping used to manage radar returns around the aircraft’s rear aspect.

Parallel development can give Türkiye additional ways to build turbine expertise and hedge setbacks, while its ability to benefit from both programmes will depend on whether scarce test capacity, specialist labour and manufacturing resources can support their separate qualification demands.

GÜÇHAN’s unassigned platform keeps its near-term strategic value in technology development, while the TF-35000 retains the defined route into later KAAN blocks and therefore remains the engine whose qualification directly governs the fighter’s transition away from the American F110.

A documented TF-35000 ground run, followed by endurance evidence, flight clearance and serial support, would move Türkiye toward a KAAN fleet it can sustain on its own industrial base and give Indonesia a clearer route to fielding Turkish-powered fighters.