Turkey Collaborates With Rolls-Royce To Provide 5th Generation Fighter Jet Engines

JAKARTA - Turkey's top defense industry body is collaborating with Britain-based Rolls-Royce to power the country's National Combat Aircraft (MMU), the head of the authority said on Saturday.

In a television program on CNN broadcaster Türk, Ismail Demir, Head of the Presidency of Defense Industries (SSB), commented on developments regarding MMU, a long-awaited domestic defense industry project.

The TF-X MMU, which is a fifth-generation jet with similar features to the United States' Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II, is being developed by the local defense industry, with Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) as prime contractor.

Stating there are alternative engine options other than the F-110 engine to be supplied from the US, Demir noted: "We also have the possibility of working with Rolls-Royce on the engine."

"We previously had some concerns (about this collaboration)," he said, however, the company resolved this issue as a result of the meeting held, as reported by Daily Sabah March 6.

"The work has started," he added.

Demir, in March 2021, stated the British company did not have the engines for this particular aircraft and the company offered to develop engines for the MMU with a partnership established in Turkey.

However, there were conditions that the Turkish side did not accept, Demir said at the time, adding that once the company was ready, Turkey would be in a position to upgrade its business to a better position.

Open sources strongly suggest that TRMotor and Rolls-Royce Turkey will work together to develop engines for the MMU.

Meanwhile, Rolls-Royce also has close ties to another Turkish company, the Kale Group. Research and development (R&D) company Kale, under the roof of the Kale Group, has domestically developed a turbojet missile engine that powers Turkey's missiles.

To note, the national fighter jet is scheduled to leave the hangar in 2023, make its maiden flight in 2025 or 2026 and enter the inventory of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) in 2029.