Turkey's new Kaan vs. F‑35: Can it outperform America’s fighter?
Commenting on the development of the Turkish 5th generation Kaan aircraft, Temel Kotil—the CEO of the Turkish TAI consortium—argued that it is better than the F-35. Although the aircraft is undoubtedly a significant success for Turkey, it is worth verifying its creators' declarations. Does Kaan have an edge over the F-35?
Temel Kotil believes that Kaan has advantages over the F-35. The TAI CEO argued that the Turkish aircraft carries more armament than the F-35 and also has an advantage over the American machine in the form of two engines.
Defence24 author Maciej Szopa analyzed these statements. Has Turkey indeed built a better combat aircraft than the United States?
A reliable comparison at the current stage of work is impossible. While the F-35 has operational readiness in many countries and is ordered in hundreds, the Turkish design – although it has already made its first flight – is currently in the prototype stage.
What’s more, Temel Kotil's words about the payload difference are not precise. The F-35 carries a limited payload of weapons, among other things, due to stealth requirements, housed in internal bays (in a configuration with weapons on external racks, the machine is easy to detect).
F-35 and Kaan - differences between the aircraft
The F-35's payload weight is significantly higher than the Turks' data, amounting to about 8,165 kilograms. The Kaan's payload capacity—although officially stated to reach 9,979 kilograms—has yet to be verified.
The second—alleged—advantage of the Turkish aircraft is said to be its two engines. Twin-engine designs have different characteristics compared to single-engine ones, and two engines are typical, among other things, for naval or specialized air superiority aircraft.
In the case of the Kaan aircraft, using two engines seems to be less of a choice and more of a necessity. Turkey most likely has issues with sufficiently efficient propulsion units. The way around this limitation, in this case, turned out to be the use of two propulsion units from the F-16, specifically General Electric F110 engines.
