Turkey’s KAAN Takes Shape as Twin-Engine Fifth-Generation Counterpart to U.S. F-35.

Turkey’s KAAN is taking shape as a twin-engine, fifth-generation fighter jet counterpart to the U.S. F-35, with a projected maximum speed of Mach 1.8, internal weapons bays, and a low-observable design intended to support air-superiority and deep-strike missions. The comparison remains one of concept rather than operational maturity: the F-35 is a combat-proven fighter deployed at scale, while KAAN is still progressing through development and flight testing.

That development is entering a new phase in 2026. Turkish Aerospace said in early October that it had completed system checks on the P1 prototype and expected the aircraft to fly within weeks, while assembly and testing of the P2 prototype continued. Earlier ground trials had already moved the newer KAAN prototypes into taxi testing, with P1 and P2 incorporating a more advanced systems architecture than the original demonstrator that first flew in 2024.

Related Topic: Türkiye’s KAAN P1 Taxi Test Reveals Advanced Sensors and Major Fifth Generation Design Refinements

KAAN and F-35A highlight two different stages of fifth-generation fighter development. Turkey’s twin-engine KAAN is advancing through flight testing with a projected Mach 1.8 speed, internal weapons bays, integrated sensors, and nationally controlled weapons and electronic warfare systems, while the U.S. F-35A remains the operational benchmark with mature stealth, sensor fusion, networking, and combat-proven service. (Picture source: Editing Army Recognition Group)

For the Turkish Air Force, the significance extends beyond replacing aging F-16s. KAAN is intended to give Turkey national control over fighter design, mission software, sensors, electronic warfare equipment, weapons integration, and future upgrades, reducing dependence on foreign suppliers for capabilities that increasingly define modern air combat.

Developed by Turkish Aerospace, KAAN is substantially larger than the single-engine F-35A. The Turkish fighter measures about 20.3 meters in length with a 13.4-meter wingspan and has a maximum takeoff weight of roughly 34.75 tonnes, while the current development configuration uses two engines in the approximately 29,000-pound-thrust class. Its larger airframe provides additional internal volume for fuel, sensors and weapons, while the twin-engine arrangement offers greater installed thrust and propulsion redundancy.

These characteristics point toward a fighter designed not simply as a direct replacement for the F-16, but as a higher-end combat aircraft for air superiority, interception and long-range strike missions. Turkish Aerospace lists a projected maximum speed of Mach 1.8, a 55,000-foot service ceiling, internal weapon carriage, low observability, and supercruise among KAAN’s intended characteristics.

Turkey’s KAAN fifth-generation fighter is being developed as a twin-engine, low-observable combat aircraft with internal weapons bays, advanced sensors, and nationally controlled mission systems. The aircraft remains in development, with new prototypes moving through ground and flight-test phases. (Picture source X account)

The F-35A provides the clearest operational benchmark. The U.S.-built fighter uses a single Pratt & Whitney F135 engine producing about 40,000 pounds of maximum thrust and has a published top speed of Mach 1.6, with a combat radius greater than 590 nautical miles, or approximately 1,093 kilometers, on internal fuel.

On paper, KAAN’s projected Mach 1.8 top speed therefore exceeds the F-35A’s Mach 1.6 figure. That difference should not be interpreted as evidence of overall superiority, because maximum speed represents only one part of modern fighter effectiveness. Low observability, sensor performance, electronic warfare, information fusion, secure communications and the ability to detect and engage an opponent before being detected are generally more decisive in fifth-generation air combat.

This is where the F-35 currently holds its most important advantage. Its radar, distributed electro-optical sensors, electronic warfare suite and communications systems already feed a fused tactical picture to the pilot, allowing the aircraft to function simultaneously as a shooter, sensor and information node. The F-35 can also distribute targeting and surveillance information across other aircraft, ships and ground forces, multiplying its value beyond its own weapons load.

The U.S. F-35A Lightning II is an operational fifth-generation stealth fighter combining low observability, sensor fusion, advanced electronic warfare, and networked combat capabilities. It remains the most widely fielded stealth fighter in service today. (Picture source: U.S. Department of War/Defense)

Turkish KAAN fighter jet is being developed around broadly similar principles, including integrated radio-frequency sensors, electro-optical systems, electronic warfare, secure communications, and sensor fusion. Turkish Aerospace also emphasizes situational awareness and interoperability, but these characteristics remain under development and must be validated through flight testing and operational evaluation before direct comparison with the mature F-35 fighter jet.

Internal weapons carriage is particularly important to KAAN’s intended role. Carrying missiles and bombs inside the fuselage helps preserve a reduced radar signature, whereas external pylons and weapons increase radar reflections and make a fighter easier to detect.

The Turkish SOM-J stand-off missile is relevant to this requirement, although it should not yet be described as an established operational KAAN weapon. Roketsan designed SOM-J as a reduced-observable air-to-surface missile suitable for internal or external carriage, weighing about 540 kilograms, with a 140-kilogram warhead, imaging-infrared terminal guidance, and a published range of up to 275 kilometers.

SOM-J also creates an important technological link between KAAN and the F-35. Lockheed Martin originally developed the missile for internal carriage on the F-35, so its dimensions and reduced-observable characteristics are relevant to Turkey’s effort to establish an indigenous stealth-strike ecosystem. Any future internal integration on KAAN would allow the fighter to approach contested areas while maintaining a lower radar signature before releasing a stand-off weapon, but such integration should be treated as a planned or relevant capability rather than one already demonstrated in service.

The propulsion contrast also reflects different design approaches. KAAN’s twin-engine layout provides greater total installed thrust and redundancy and may offer additional growth capacity for future power, cooling, and electronic requirements. The F-35A instead achieves its performance with one high-thrust F135 engine and benefits from a mature propulsion, maintenance, and logistics infrastructure developed through years of multinational operations.

KAAN’s current flight-test history illustrates this maturity gap. The original prototype made its maiden flight on February 21, 2024, remaining airborne for 13 minutes while reaching about 8,000 feet and 230 knots. A second flight followed on May 6, reaching 10,000 feet during a 14-minute sortie. These were early envelope-expansion flights rather than demonstrations of the fighter’s projected Mach 1.8 performance or complete combat configuration.

The P1 and P2 aircraft are therefore particularly important because they move the program beyond the initial technology demonstrator toward prototypes with more representative systems. Turkish Aerospace’s 2026 ground-test campaign and preparations to fly P1, followed by continued assembly and testing of P2, indicate that the program is entering a phase where avionics, systems integration and flight performance can be evaluated more extensively.

For Turkey, this technical progression is closely tied to strategic autonomy. National control over radar, electro-optical sensors, electronic warfare equipment, mission computers, software and weapons interfaces would allow Ankara to determine future upgrades and integrate Turkish-developed weapons without relying entirely on a foreign prime contractor or external authorization.

That flexibility could eventually become one of KAAN’s most important operational advantages for the Turkish Air Force. Rather than measuring the program solely against the F-35 in speed or individual specifications, its value will depend on Turkey’s ability to continuously integrate new air-to-air missiles, stand-off weapons, sensors and electronic warfare functions throughout the aircraft’s service life.

The F-35 nevertheless remains the more mature and operationally proven reference point. Its stealth characteristics, sensor fusion, networking, electronic warfare and multinational sustainment system are already functioning at fleet scale, whereas KAAN still has to demonstrate comparable integration, reliability and survivability through testing and eventual operational service.

The Turkish KAAN’s importance therefore lies less in whether Mach 1.8 is faster than the F-35’s Mach 1.6 and more in whether Turkey can combine low observability, advanced sensing, electronic warfare, data fusion and indigenous weapons into a coherent combat system. If the P1 and P2 flight campaigns validate those objectives, KAAN could give the Turkish Air Force something substantially more consequential than another F-16 replacement: a nationally controlled fifth-generation fighter built around Turkey’s own sensors, weapons and future combat-air requirements.

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Written by Alain Servaes – Chief Editor, Army Recognition Group
Alain Servaes is a former infantry non-commissioned officer and the founder of Army Recognition. With over 20 years in defense journalism, he provides expert analysis on military equipment, NATO operations, and the global defense industry.