Ceremony Held for Hürkuş Type Certification – Source of National Pride for Turkey, Global Recognition

Type Certification of the New Generation Trainer Aircraft “Hürkuş” was presented to TAI at a ceremony organized with the coordination of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on 18 August 2016.

The Type Certification Award was held at TAI’s facilities at Kazan, Ankara with the participation of Minister of National Defense Mr.Fikri Işık, Minister of Transportation, Maritime Affairs and Communication Mr.Ahmet Arslan, Undersecretary for Defense Industries Prof. İsmail Demir, former Defense Minister and TÜRKSAT Chairman of the Board Mr. Vecdi Gönül and prestigious invitees.

Minister of National Defense Mr. Fikri Işık “We aim to carry our local content rate to the level of 80%”

In his speech at the ceremony, Minister of National Defense Mr. Fikri Işık stated that the attempts initiated in earlier years within the scope of the defense industry started to bear its fruits in all areas and added that the rate of local content in the defense industry, which is currently 60%, should be increased to 80% and the quality needed to be higher and continued, “The rate of local content in 2002 was around 24% in the Turkish Defense Industry. Today this figure reached the level of 60% and we have demonstrated a significant amount of increase in quality. Even so, we need to raise this rate further in this geography where threats are increasing every day. We have the sufficient amount of know-how, human resources, economic power and money to achieve this. We will focus more on increasing the quality especially in the defense industry from now on”. 

Minister Işık expressed that they were proud with the “Hürkuş” project and added that with the Combat Aircraft program they will be manufacturing one of the most developed fighter jets in the world and that they will be enjoying the same pride similarly in this program.

Also pointing to the fact that they now have greater targets in Turkey, Minister of National Defense Fikri Işık stated that great political will exists on this point. Mr. Işık also noted that they will be enabling the private sector and SMEs to take more part in the defense industry in the upcoming process. Mentioning that the foundation companies and publicly owned enterprises will be focusing on high quality projects which could not be achieved by the private sector, Mr. Işık emphasized that as the government, they will be focusing on system engineering while also concentrating on basic R&D.

Taking the floor after Minister of National Defense Mr. Fikri Işık, Minister of Transportation, Maritime Affairs and Communication Mr. Ahmet Arslan, touched upon the fact that Turkey rose from the 30th row to the 10th row in the worldwide aviation/aerospace list since the year 2003 and continued, “Today we are feeling this national pride altogether, yet we should not be satisfied with it.  We are very late in having reached a stage where we manufacture our own civil aircraft and certify it”.

Moreover, Minister Mr. Arslan expressed that the capacity of giving the Type Certification Approval to Hürkuş in Turkey and its recognition and confirmation by the civil authorities of the world were quite important. Mr. Arslan stressed that the success proved during the production of the ATAK helicopter and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) was crowned with “Hürkuş” and continued, “We trust you to build our civil and military aircrafts. With the release of this faith and the support of our political authority, we are witnessing an idea on a paper turning into a reality. From the workers to the top executives, everyone has to believe that these ideas will be transformed into reality. With this confidence, we are now capable of making healthy plans in all sectors of our country and put forth targets with longer terms”.

Director General of Civil Aviation Mr. Bilal Ekşi: “Turkey reached the manufacturer country status with this certification” 

Ministry of Transportation, Maritime Affairs and Communication’s Director General of Civil Aviation Bilal Ekşi noted that the aircraft which went under a certification test as challenging and tiring as the design, manufacturing and production processes finally embraced its independence as “Hürkuş” on 11 July 2016 with the Type Certification granted by the DGCA. Stating that Turkey reached at a “manufacturing country” status with this certification, Mr. Ekşi continued: “As the main designer and manufacturer of an aircraft during this development process, TAI acquired aerodynamic, structural and systematic design and production capabilities and these capabilities were once again verified and registered with this certification”.

TAI Chairman of the Board Mr. Nejat Bilgin stated that “Hürkuş” - the product of the labor of 140 engineers in 10 years - was the first Turkish aircraft that received certificates from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and added: “Hürkuş” reached at the point of maturity in 10 years where its equivalents could achieve it in 12 years. Approximately 500 flight tests were conducted during the certification process. All the engineering calculations of the aircraft composed of 5.500 parts were again accomplished by Turkish engineers. This pride belongs to the Turkish nation”.

Upon the completion of the speeches, Type Certification of “Hürkuş” was presented to the TAI President and CEO Mr. Muharrem Dörtkaşlı by the Minister of Transportation, Maritime Affairs and Communication Mr.Ahmet Arslan and Director General of Civil Aviation Mr. Bilal Ekşi.

Following the ceremony, the flight demonstration of “Hürkuş” was monitored  from the control tower.