UNDER the dynamic and visionary leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkiye continues attaining major achievements one after another. The Turkish President unveiled the indigenously-built fifth generation fighter plane named Kaan, the other day, thus becoming one of the five countries that manufacture such an advanced supersonic aircraft. The very milestone, which is a proud moment not only for the Turkish people but also the entire Muslim Ummah, attest to the revolutionary progress of Turkiye’s defence industry.
The fighter plane was envisioned by the Turkish government more than a decade ago to replace the nation’s aging F-16 fleet. The need for such an aircraft became more acute when the US refused to provide Turkiye F-35 aircraft in 2019 over its interest in Russian air defences. The manufacturing of this aircraft is a testimony that Muslim countries like Turkiye have the capacity and capability to compete with the western countries in the realm of technology. The plane, a 21-meter-long twin-engine fighter jet expected to reach a maximum speed of Mach 1.8, includes capabilities such as “situational awareness, optimized pilot workload, combat damage detection, new generation mission systems, low observability, precision strike and internal weapon bay. Such investment in defence and technology will consolidate Turkiye’s active role in the international arena as well as serve its national interests. The fact of the matter is that the attitude of western countries towards Muslim Ummah is very discriminatory as they do not like to share their latest technology including in the defence industry with the Muslim countries. Because of this, Pakistan is also focusing on promoting its defence industry and has achieved some major successes such as the development of the JF-17 fighter jet with the cooperation of Chinese friends. Given the progress made by the defence industries of both Pakistan and Turkiye and the close association and affection they enjoy, we understand that there is a great scope of cooperation between the two countries in this particular field. Already Turkiye is building naval warships for Pakistan and this cooperation needs to be expanded to fighter plane manufacturing. Sharing of experience and technology will benefit both the countries to successfully achieve self-reliance in the defence sector.
