Türkiye's 5th-generation fighter jet completes first flight

Türkiye's first indigenously developed fighter jet, named KAAN, completed its first flight.

The fifth-generation warplane took off on February 21 and stayed in the air briefly before returning to an air base in north Ankara, according to a video shared by the Turkish Aerospace Industries.

Türkiye launched its TF-X project to produce a national combat aircraft in 2016. 

Earlier, the engineers carried out KAAN's launch seat tests, full-length static tests, static tests of control surfaces, landing gear tests, avionic system tests, fuel tests, engine start up tests and taxiing tests.

It is sought to replace the aging F-16 fleet in the inventory of the Air Forces Command, which is planned to be phased out starting in the 2030s.