[By CeeGee – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=82545559]
Turkey and Spain have signed a €2.6 billion deal for the Spanish air force to procure 30 light training jets from Turkish Aerospace Industries from 2028, Turkey’s defense industry authority has said.
The Turkish company and Airbus inked a cooperation accord in July as part of the negotiations for the procurement. The final deal marks the first foreign sale of its HURJET training jet.
Turkish Aerospace Industries will export HURJET aircraft from 2028 until 2036, the authority said in a statement, adding the accord would also pave the way for deeper defense industry cooperation between NATO allies Turkey and Spain.
“This agreement is a high-value-added and multi-dimensional defense industry export package,” Haluk Gorgun, the authority’s chairman, said.
He said the deal included HURJET exports, an integrated training architecture, maintenance infrastructure, and long-term operational support.
In recent years Turkey has ramped up its defense industry and cut dependence on foreign providers. It is working on the production of its first indigenous fighter jet, KAAN, and an air defense system dubbed the “Steel Dome.”
Ankara has become a leading producer and exporter of drones in recent years. [Reuters]