The engines Turkey needs for its fifth-generation fighter are on the way — and Washington just wrote the permission slip. The Trump administration has notified Congress of a more than $700 million sale of General Electric F110 turbofan engines for Ankara's TAI KAAN, clearing the single biggest technical hurdle facing Turkey's most ambitious defence programme. Congress has 15 days to introduce a resolution of disapproval — and some Democratic lawmakers, still angry over Turkey's S-400s, have objected. Few expect the deal to be blocked.

An Engine Turkey Cannot Build — Yet

The KAAN first flew in February 2024 on a pair of F110 engines — a proven powerplant that already drives the F-16, F-15K, and the UAE's F-16E/F Block 60. But Turkey's long-term plan calls for a domestically developed TEI TF-35000 engine. That engine does not exist yet. Without the F110, the KAAN programme stalls on the runway. The sale gives Turkey a bridge engine: enough F110s to power the initial production run of KAANs while TEI works on the indigenous alternative. It is a pragmatic move by both sides — Washington gets $700 million and tighter defence ties with a NATO ally sitting on the Black Sea; Ankara gets the powerplant it needs to keep its fighter programme on schedule.

The F-35 Question Lingers

Turkey was kicked out of the F-35 programme in 2019 after purchasing Russia's S-400 missile system. Washington said the two systems were incompatible — the S-400's radar could learn to track the F-35's stealth signature. Ankara called it extortion. The dispute has never been resolved. The F110 sale is explicitly separated from the F-35 question. Administration officials have stressed that selling engines for Turkey's indigenous fighter does not imply any path back to the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter programme. But the timing — days before NATO's Ankara summit — is no accident. Washington wants something from Ankara at that table, and $700 million in jet engines is one way to get it.

What Comes Next

If Congress does not block the deal within 15 days, deliveries could begin as early as 2027. That timeline aligns with Turkey's plan to begin low-rate initial production of the KAAN, with Turkish Air Force operational capability targeted for the late 2020s. The bigger question is whether Turkey can make the TF-35000 work. If it can, the KAAN becomes a fully sovereign fighter — exportable without American veto. If it cannot, Turkey will depend on GE engines indefinitely, giving Washington lasting leverage over Ankara's air power. Either way, the $700 million buys Turkey time. And in the defence business, time is the most expensive commodity of all.

Sources: Reuters, Defense News, U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency, Anadolu Agency