On Monday, 28 September, two Hürkuş trainers flew over the Turkish Aerospace (TUSAŞ) plant at Kahramankazan, outside Ankara. On the ground, officials signed them over to the Turkish Air Force. With that, the Hürkuş-II became the first of a new generation of home-built basic trainers to enter Turkish military service.
It is a small aircraft with a big job. It is designed as the first step in an all-Turkish training chain: the Hürkuş-II, then the Hürjet jet trainer, then the KAAN fighter. According to Daily Sabah, the three cockpits share the same basic architecture.
Quick Facts
- Aircraft: TAI Hürkuş-II basic trainer (single PT6A-68T turboprop, 1,600 shp)
- Delivered: First two aircraft, 28 September 2026, TUSAŞ facilities, Kahramankazan, Ankara
- Certification: Military type certificate awarded 9 September 2026
- Testing: About 23,000 hours of ground, laboratory and system integration work
- Order: 55 aircraft for the Turkish Air Force
- Next deliveries: 12 more between September and December 2026; all 55 by the end of 2028
- Local content: About 80 percent, according to Daily Sabah
The Handover in Ankara
TUSAŞ announced the delivery on X on Monday morning, saying the Hürkuş had entered the inventory of the Turkish Air Force Command after successfully completing its acceptance process.
The paperwork behind that sentence was finished only three weeks earlier. The Hürkuş-II received its military type certificate on 9 September 2026. According to Haluk Görgün, president of Turkey's Defence Industry Agency (SSB), about 23,000 hours of ground, laboratory and system integration testing went into the programme.
Twelve more aircraft are due between now and December. The Turkish Air Force has ordered 55 in total, and all of them are scheduled to arrive by the end of 2028.
What Changed From the Original Hürkuş
The first Hürkuş flew on 29 August 2013. It is a tandem-seat turboprop in the same class as the Pilatus PC-21 and the Beechcraft T-6, powered by a single Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-68T of 1,600 shaft horsepower. The armed Hürkuş-C variant already serves in Niger and Chad.
The Hürkuş-II, which first flew on 30 December 2024, is a thorough rework rather than a new aircraft. It is roughly 450 to 500 kilograms lighter than its predecessor, with more composite structure. More of the equipment is now built in Turkey. Daily Sabah puts the local content at about 80 percent, with Aselsan and Havelsan among the suppliers alongside prime contractor TUSAŞ.
The cockpit is the part that matters most to the Air Force. It is built around the same architecture as the Hürjet jet trainer, which made the first flight of a production aircraft in August, and the KAAN fighter. A student who learns the displays in a Hürkuş-II should find the next two cockpits familiar.
A Trainer Built for Export
Turkey is not building the Hürkuş-II only for itself. Görgün told the ceremony that several countries had shown interest, and pointed to a global basic trainer market worth hundreds of aircraft. That market is crowded, with the PC-21, the T-6 and Embraer's Super Tucano all competing for the same air forces.
Still, the logic is familiar from Turkey's drone industry: build it at home, fly it yourself, then sell it to friends. The Hürkuş-II is the first rung on a ladder that now runs all the way up to a fifth-generation fighter.
Sources: TUSAŞ on X, Daily Sabah, C4Defence, TRT World, Wikipedia (TAI Hürkuş). Featured image: Yusuf Emir Işık / Defence Turk
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