Turkey’s KAAN fighter jet conducts first flight

Turkey's KAAN, its first national combat aircraft, completed its first flight on Wednesday, part of the country's efforts to upgrade its air force.

NATO member Turkey launched its TF-X project to produce a national combat aircraft in 2016. Turkish aerospace firm TUSAS signed a deal with Britain's BAE Systems worth $125 million in 2017 to develop the next-generation fighter jet.

TUSAS shared a video showing a KAAN fighter jet taking off and then returning to an air base in the north Ankara.

"With KAAN, our country will not only have a fifth generation fighter jet, but also technologies that few countries in the world have," Haluk Gorgun, head of Turkey's Defense Industries Directorate (SSB), said in a post on social media platform X.

The new fighter jet will initially be powered by two General Electric F-110 engines, which are also used on fourth...