Hürjet is a high profile no-show
By Jon Lake
The Turkish Aerospace Hürjet was expected to make its international airshow debut at Farnborough, alongside the company’s Gökbey utility helicopter, but has failed to show up.
The Hürjet, which made its maiden flight on 25 April 2023, is now expected to make its first appearance outside Türkiye at the Egypt International Airshow at El Alamein International Airport in September 2024.
The reasons for Hürjet’s non-appearance have not been revealed, but there has been speculation that Egyptian interest in the aircraft may have led to a desire to give the aircraft its debut in Egypt, rather than the UK.
It has also been suggested that the aircraft may not have been felt to be quite ready to make the long, multi-stop journey to Farnborough at this point in the flight test programme.
The Hürjet is an advanced military flying training aircraft, and light attack, light fighter and aerobatic team variants are planned.
The Hürjet joins a crowded market, currently dominated by the South Korean KAI T-50 Golden Eagle, which shares a similar configuration with the Hürjet, and uses the same the General Electric F404-GE-102 turbofan engine.
In February 2024, Egypt’s Chief of the General Staff Lt. General Osama Aksar visited TUSAŞ’s facilities and inspected the Hürjet advanced trainer and watched a flight demonstration.
Turkish Aerospace (TUSAŞ) hopes to score an export order for its new trainer from Egypt, which has a long-running requirement to replace its ageing Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jets and CATIC K-8s in the advanced flying training and lead in fighter training roles.
Egypt and Turkey broke off relations after the coup which saw President Abd el-Fattah Saeed Hussein Khalil el-Sisi seize power. Relations started to normalise in 2021, and the two nations have resumed High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council Meetings.
In February 2024, Hakan Fidan, Türkiye’s Foreign Minister announced an agreement to supply Turkish UAVs to Egypt.
