TAI Builds Turkey's First Airplane Strike Testing Facility

JAKARTA - Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) continues to develop projects to support the development of Turkey's aviation sector. Most recently, TAI is presenting a bird strike testing facility that will benefit domestic aviation projects.

The company said in a statement Friday last week the facility would allow any of the necessary tests for the aircraft development and certification process to be carried out domestically.

Domestic aircraft test data will be stored in a country with a TAI testing facility, the Daily Sabah quoted March 4 as saying.

Aircraft to be tested at the facility include the Hürjet, an advanced trainer and light attack aircraft and the National Combat Aircraft (TF-X MMU), a fifth-generation jet with features similar to Lockheed Martin's F-35 Lightning II, dubbed one of the projects. most important in the Turkish aviation sector, and will be inaugurated for the first time on 18 March 2023.

Furthermore, the test facility created by TAI aims to minimize damage to aircraft from bird strikes, which are considered one of the greatest threats to aviation.

The facility, which will enable the development of solutions in this area, has been designed to appeal to the use of all sectors requiring this test. In addition to within the country, this facility is also expected to be popular outside Turkey.

Later, the facility assesses the damage to aircraft components after molds of birds made of gel, of various sizes and weights are launched there. The test data to be obtained will contribute to the development process of critical components of all platforms and aircraft manufactured by TAI.

TAI chief Temel Kotil, whose views were included in the company statement, said they considered it extremely important to develop unique products for the defense industry that were completely independent. As well as testing these products with domestic infrastructure.

"We ensure that the test data stays in our country. The Bird Strike Test Facility is a facility located only in certain countries of the world, and we are happy to bring it to our country," he said, congratulating his colleagues who contributed to the project. 'new capabilities we have brought to our country's aviation ecosystem.'