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Turkish TF-X prototype enters the final assembly stage! "Fifth-generation machine" technology began to cabbage?

author:Military sub-plane

"Military Sub-plane" author: Taibai

Turkey's first fifth-generation jet fighter, the TF-X, has entered the final assembly stage and is expected to be off the production line for test flights in 2023.

Turkish TF-X prototype enters the final assembly stage! "Fifth-generation machine" technology began to cabbage?

▲ Turkish TF-X fighter, image source: network

The TF-X fighter project is a project launched by the Turkish Defense Industry Executive Committee (SSIK) in 2010 to design, develop and build a new generation of air superiority fighters to replace the F-16 fighters in service with the Air Force at the time.

Turkish TF-X prototype enters the final assembly stage! "Fifth-generation machine" technology began to cabbage?

▲ F-16 fighter, image source: Internet

Speaking of fifth-generation fighters, all military fans must be familiar with it, as a symbol of the current comprehensive national strength. Only China, the United States and Russia can really independently produce and form combat effectiveness, and it can even be said that only China and the United States, because of the complexity of fifth-generation fighters, research and development and production have extremely high requirements for a country's economic strength and aviation industry level, and the remaining countries are not PPT, or even PPT has not been written, only the American F-22, F-35 continental J-20 and Russian Su-57 fighters are in service.

Turkish TF-X prototype enters the final assembly stage! "Fifth-generation machine" technology began to cabbage?

▲ Continental J-20 fighter, image source: network

From the start of the project to today's final assembly, the development of the TF-X project is not all smooth sailing, limited by the level of Turkey's aviation industry, Turkey has been introducing international partners, to put it bluntly, it is a meal of buying and buying various purchases and finding foreign aid to help. In 2013, an agreement was signed with Swedish Saab to provide technical and design support for TF-X. Later, it collaborated with BAE in the United Kingdom, which assisted in the design of the TF-X, and used Rolls-Royce EJ2000 engines. Later, in 2018, the engine part became the F110 engine produced by General Electric.

After this operation, even if the project was launched as early as 2010, the performance parameters of TF-X were not finally confirmed until 2022, and in a project such as the defense industry, multinational cooperation is basically equivalent to ripping off and delaying. To be honest, Turkey can go through these processes to the extent that it is already very good, in the end, NATO countries, as long as they are willing to pay foreign aid, they can still find it, but the relative autonomy and controllability will decline is very right. But overall, it is still insufficient compared to the top, and more than the bottom (India).

Turkish TF-X prototype enters the final assembly stage! "Fifth-generation machine" technology began to cabbage?

▲Image source: Internet

Overall, the TX-F is very similar to the American F-22 fighter, similar in size to the F22, and is a conventional layout with a twin-engine push. But judging by the current news, the TF-X still has a long, long way to go before it really achieves mass production and forms combat effectiveness.

Turkish TF-X prototype enters the final assembly stage! "Fifth-generation machine" technology began to cabbage?

▲Image source: Internet

First of all, in terms of stealth capabilities, it uses a semi-buried bomb bay and a straight air intake, which limits its potential in stealth. Moreover, due to the purchase of Russian equipment under US sanctions, the inability to get more F110 engines and some related technical information also makes the final engine option of the TF-X a little more foggy. In addition, no matter which engine is chosen, the power gap with the F-22 is relatively large, and even if it is successfully put into production, it may be difficult to compare with several other predecessors.

Turkish TF-X prototype enters the final assembly stage! "Fifth-generation machine" technology began to cabbage?

▲Image source: Internet

The picture below shows the hardpoints, weapons and sensors on the TF-X, and it is said that its combat radius can reach the level of the fourth generation and the fourth and a half generations, which is larger than the combat radius of the fifth generation fighter. In terms of overpatrol speed, it is also slightly lower than the average of fifth-generation aircraft, and the acceleration capability is planned to be slightly higher than the level of 4.5-generation aircraft. From the current publicity information, it is a level of four to four and a half generations, which is basically the same level as South Korea's four-and-a-half generation fighter KF21, but it is difficult to say how much these performance indicators can be implemented in the end

Turkish TF-X prototype enters the final assembly stage! "Fifth-generation machine" technology began to cabbage?
Turkish TF-X prototype enters the final assembly stage! "Fifth-generation machine" technology began to cabbage?

▲Image source: Internet

All in all, although Turkey trumpets its fifth-generation fighters into final assembly, there is still a lot of uncertainty before it forms combat power, and even successfully tests flights, and the overall design and core components rely on other countries is also a great hidden danger.

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