First Flight for Turkey’s Hürjet Trainer | Aviation International News

First Flight for Turkey’s Hürjet Trainer

The advanced trainer is planned to adopt light combat roles in addition to its supersonic training function.

TAI Hürjet — The prototype Hürjet is seen during its maiden flight on April 25. (Photo: Turkish Aerospace)

By David Donald • Contributor - UK

April 26, 2023

Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) has undertaken the first flight of the Hürjet advanced trainer/light attacker. Flown by a single test pilot and accompanied by an F-16 chase aircraft, the unpainted prototype made a 26-minute maiden voyage on April 25, reaching an altitude of 14,000 feet and a speed of 250 knots. Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, announced the achievement on Twitter with an accompanying video.

TAI began the Hürjet program in August 2017 as a privately funded project. It gained official backing from the Türk Hava Kuvvetleri (THK, Turkish air force) in July 2018. The Hürjet draws on the modern avionics architecture developed for the company’s Hürkus turboprop trainer, but applied to a supersonic jet-powered aircraft. Power comes from a General Electric F404-GE-102 afterburning turbofan that provides 17,600 pounds of thrust. This gives the Hürjet a projected top speed of Mach 1.4 and a climb rate of 39,000 feet per minute. The airframe is rated at +8/-3 g loading, with a planned sustained turn capability at Mach 0.9 of 5.5g. Estimated range is 1,200 nm.

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