British Secretary of State for Defence John Healey, invited by Turkish Counterpart Yaşar Güler, visited TUSAS along with Secretary of SSB Haluk Görgün.
Secretary of Defence Industries Haluk Görgün shared information and snapshots of two ministers’ visits to Turkish aerospace facilities. Görgün wrote that the British Minister signed the condolence book in memory of our TUSAŞ martyrs, and Görgün added, “We talked about TUSAŞ’s achievements in the defence industry. We had the opportunity to show the Minister our National Combat Aircraft KAAN, Jet Training Aircraft HÜRJET, AKSUNGUR, ANKA and ANKA-III on site. We thank the Minister for his visit and condolences.” TUSAŞ General Manager Mehmet Demiroğlu accompanied the delegation throughout their visit.
TurDef understands that the visit will be a milestone in the Eurofighter acquisition programme. Defence Minister Güler confirmed two days ago, Turkiye’s interest in acquiring 40 Eurofighters in a TV interview. The acquisition decision has waited for a long time to overcome German resistance, but TurDef understands that the process has not waited for the decision; technical negotiations might have continued. This is why Turkiye might start the process once German approval is received and Turkish Air Force might expect the Eurofighters before F-16s.
British Minister’s visit to TUSAŞ also hints that a hybrid acquisition might be followed. It is known that Turkiye wants the latest version of Eurofighters. On the other hand, the Turkish MoD might evaluate acquiring some fighters second-hand once the urgent need is met with brand new ones. In this way the Eurofighters might be modernised at TUSAŞ facilities while the cost would be lower and it would take less time to complete all fleet.
