At present, the world's most advanced fighter is the fifth-generation aircraft, compared with the fourth-generation aircraft, the biggest feature of the fifth-generation aircraft is stealth, with this point, the fifth-generation aircraft can relatively easily break through the opponent's air defense network, quietly carry out precision strikes against the enemy. It is precisely because of this superpower that the technical threshold of the fifth-generation aircraft is much higher than that of the third- and fourth-generation aircraft, and at present, only China, the United States and Russia have fully mastered the technology of the fifth-generation aircraft in the world, and have realized the mass production and service of the fifth-generation aircraft. Other countries want to equip fifth-generation aircraft, they can only introduce them, and at present, only the American F-35, a fifth-generation aircraft, is allowed to be exported, so even if other countries want to buy, there are very few choices.
As a result, some countries want to break the pattern of China, the United States and Russia monopolizing the fifth-generation aircraft, and start anew and develop a fifth-generation aircraft by themselves. Previously, South Korea launched the KF-21 fighter, according to the South Korean media, this is also a fifth-generation aircraft, but in the eyes of many people, KF-21 is at most a 4.5-generation fighter, the reason why it is not up to the standard of the fifth-generation aircraft is because of its stealth ability, which is still an unknown, perhaps it does not have stealth ability at all, because it is still an external magazine design, and the fifth-generation aircraft of China, the United States and Russia is buried in the magazine, which is not the same number at all. After the KF-21 was kept out of the fifth-generation aircraft, Turkey is preparing to launch the world's fifth fifth-generation aircraft. According to information from the Turkish military, the self-developed fifth-generation aircraft KAAN may make its first flight on December 27 local time.
The first prototype was unveiled in March this year, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan named it "KAAN". Judging from the photos released by the Turkish military, KAAN is simply a "stitching monster", and its appearance design borrows many elements from the fifth-generation aircraft of the United States and Russia. From the front, it looks a bit like an American F-22 fighter, with wing-body fusion and air intakes, almost exactly the same as the F-22. The wing shape and vertical tail are somewhat similar to the Russian Su-57 fighter, but the cockpit canopy is similar to the American F-35 fighter. If you add the canard wings on the Chinese J-20 fighter, it is simply the concentration of the fifth-generation aircraft of the United States and Russia.
According to information published by the Turkish media, the KAAN has a maximum speed of about Mach 2, a combat radius of more than 1,100 kilometers, and is equipped with Turkey's self-developed avionics and weapons systems. As for the core engine, it is the F110 provided by General Electric of the United States. The prototype is launched, and the question is whether it can be mass-produced, and then realize mass equipment, which is the most difficult. In the short term, it will be difficult for Turkey to achieve this, because the supply of engines is up to the Americans. Previously, because Turkey insisted on purchasing S-400 anti-aircraft missiles from Russia, it offended the United States, and now it is unlikely that the United States will provide Turkey with a large number of F110 engines, supply you with a few, let you use them for testing, yes, provide them in large quantities, and the United States will definitely not nod.
In fact, Turkey's main purpose is to knock the United States and put pressure on the United States, which means that if the United States does not sell me fifth-generation aircraft, I will build it myself, and if the United States wants to sell it in the future, I don't want it! In this way, it urges the United States to sell F-35s to it, and no matter how bad it is, it is okay to sell F-16V fighters. There is no doubt that Turkey has thrown out the hook, and it is up to the United States to take the bait.