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Turkish Aerospace Company Profile: Products and African Customers

This Turkish Aerospace company profile sets out who owns TUSAŞ, what it builds and where its aircraft, helicopters and drones are already in service or on order across Africa and the Middle East. Turkish Aerospace Industries, known as TUSAŞ in Turkey and TAI abroad, is Ankara’s state-controlled aerospace manufacturer. It builds the Anka and Aksungur drones, the T129 ATAK attack helicopter, the Hürkuş and Hürjet aircraft and the KAAN fighter. Where a contract value or a delivery has not been disclosed, the article says so rather than estimating.

Turkish Aerospace Company Profile: Ownership and History

TUSAŞ was founded in 1973. Its website describes a company that works with multinational partners while also producing original products, and it names the Turkish Armed Forces Foundation and the Presidency of Defence Industries (SSB) as its parent bodies.

The company’s early business was foreign-designed aircraft built in Turkey. Its own programme page records that it produced 46 F-16s for the Egyptian Air Force between 1993 and 1995 under an agreement between the governments of Turkey, the United States and Egypt (TUSAŞ, Egypt F-16 programme). The T129 ATAK is also a licence-built design, derived from the AgustaWestland A129.

The current range rests on indigenous designs. The company site lists the T625 Gökbey and T129 ATAK helicopters, the KAAN, Hürkuş and Hürjet aircraft, the Anka, Anka III and Aksungur drones, and the Göktürk-2 earth observation satellite, alongside aerostructures work for other manufacturers.

Key Products and Programmes

The table summarises the main platforms and their reported status.

Platform	Role	Status	Customers named
Anka / Anka-S	Medium-altitude long-endurance drone	In service	Turkey, Chad, Tunisia
Aksungur	Twin-engine armed drone	In service	Chad, Niger; Angola contract, no delivery confirmed
Anka III	Unmanned combat aircraft	Serial production reported	Turkish Air Force
T129 ATAK	Attack helicopter	In service	Turkey, Nigeria
Hürkuş / Hürkuş-C	Turboprop trainer and light attack aircraft	In service	Turkey, Niger, Chad
Hürjet	Advanced jet trainer and light combat aircraft	Flight testing; contracts signed	Turkey (16 ordered), Spain (30)
T625 Gökbey	Twin-engine utility helicopter	Serial production	Turkey
KAAN	Fifth-generation fighter	Prototype stage	Turkey, Indonesia (48)

In May 2025 chief executive Mehmet Demiroğlu told Turkish media that 83 Anka drones and 92 ATAK helicopters were in service, that 55 Hürkuş orders had been received and that the Turkish Air Force had ordered 16 Hürjet. By 2034 the company targets about 500 KAAN, Hürjet and Hürkuş aircraft, more than 350 helicopters and nearly 600 drones (Hürriyet Daily News).

The largest export contracts so far are outside Africa. Indonesia signed for 48 KAAN fighters on 26 July 2025 at the IDEF exhibition, and Spain signed on 29 December 2025 for 30 Hürjet worth EUR 2.6 billion, with deliveries planned for 2028 and 2029 (Defence Turkey).

In a January interview, Demiroğlu said the focus was moving from signing contracts to serial production, with 22 Hürkuş deliveries targeted for the year and Hürjet deliveries to Turkey due to start in 2027 (TurDef).

Contracts and Customers in Africa and the Middle East

TUSAŞ sells to Africa as a direct exporter, and quantities are often undisclosed. For the drone fleets in more detail, see which African countries operate the Anka and Aksungur.

Country	System	What is documented	Status
Nigeria	T129 ATAK	Six announced in July 2022; first two inducted at Makurdi on 6 February 2024	In service
Chad	Hürkuş-C, Anka-S, Aksungur	Three Hürkuş-C and two Anka shown at N’Djamena in July 2023	In service
Niger	Hürkuş, Aksungur	Two Hürkuş sold per a 2022 statement; Aksungur unveiled at Niamey on 29 September 2025	In service, numbers undisclosed
Tunisia	Anka-S	Contract of about USD 80 million for three; five delivered by 2023 per a TAI official	Delivered
Angola	Aksungur	USD 93 million contract approved in October 2022	No delivery confirmed
Algeria	Anka-S	Ten reported by unnamed sources in October 2022	Reported, unconfirmed
Egypt	F-16	46 aircraft produced between 1993 and 1995	Historic, completed

Anyone using this Turkish Aerospace company profile as a customer checklist should note that the table lists only documented or reported deals. Nigeria is the only documented African buyer of the T129. Janes reported that the Nigerian Air Force inducted its first T129 helicopters on 6 February 2024 and that two had arrived at that point (Janes). In late October the air force listed six more T129 and 12 Aksungur among its expected aircraft, without a contract date or value, as covered in our report on that list.

Chad and Niger were the first African buyers of the Hürkuş. TAI general manager Temel Kotil announced the Chad sale at Farnborough in July 2022 and said two had been sold to Niger, without giving a value for either deal (Defense News). The Chadian air force displayed three Hürkuş-C and two Anka drones a year later, and the reasons behind that fleet are set out in why Chad bought the Anka and Aksungur.

Angola’s Aksungur contract was approved by its government in October 2022, but defenceWeb reported no deliveries in March 2023, and none has been confirmed since. The Algerian Anka-S order rests on a Middle East Eye report built on two unnamed sources; Algiers made no comment at the time (Middle East Eye).

In the Gulf, the main recent step is a memorandum of understanding on joint production in Saudi Arabia, reported from the World Defense Show in Riyadh in February with the Ministry of Investment and the General Authority for Military Industries. The Gökbey helicopter is expected to be central, but no value, quantities or localisation rate have been disclosed (report of the signing).

Partnerships and Local Production

TUSAŞ depends on foreign partners for engines and for access to European markets. Its Hürjet export push runs through an agreement with Airbus signed in mid-2025, and the Spanish contract foresees structural conversion by Airbus Spain between 2031 and 2035. A memorandum with GE Aerospace covers F404 engines for the Hürjet, with Turkey planning to buy 100 of them. The indigenous TF35000 engine is expected to equip KAAN Block 30 aircraft from 2032 (EDR Magazine).

The company also supplies parts to Boeing and Airbus. Demiroğlu said in May 2025 that 125 localisation projects had been completed and more than 330 were under way, expected to keep about USD 1 billion a year in Turkey.

In Africa the picture is different. No African production line or assembly site for TUSAŞ products has been announced. The company said in May 2025 that it was preparing offices in Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria and Brazil, which suggests that sales and support, rather than manufacturing, will come first. Competitors take other routes; Baykar and others are covered in the wider list of Turkish defence companies active in Africa.

TUSAŞ Company Profile: Financial Snapshot and Workforce

The figures below come from industry rankings and executive statements, not from audited accounts published by the company.

Indicator	Figure	Source
Net sales from production, previous full year	About TL 98.1 billion	Istanbul Chamber of Industry ranking, published May 2025
Rank among Turkish industrial firms	11th, up six places	Same ranking
Revenue	Approaching USD 3 billion; target of USD 4.3 billion the next year and USD 12 billion by 2034	Chief executive, May 2025
R&D spending	About TL 65.2 billion, up 26.6%	Turkishtime R&D ranking
R&D staff	5,100	Same ranking

The 11th place and the lira sales figure come from the Istanbul Chamber of Industry list as reported by Memurlar.net, and the R&D numbers from Forbes Türkiye. A company-wide headcount and a TUSAŞ-only export figure were not found in the sources reviewed. Turkey’s defence and aerospace exports as a whole reached USD 10.054 billion.

Strengths, Challenges and Outlook

This Turkish Aerospace company profile shows a manufacturer with a wide portfolio: a fighter, a jet trainer, a turboprop, two helicopter lines and three drone families. State ownership gives it a domestic order book, and the Indonesian and Spanish contracts show it can win outside Turkey’s traditional markets.

The challenges are mostly about delivery. The chief executive has said the priority is now serial production. Hürjet engines still come from GE until national alternatives mature, and African contracts are often announced without quantities, values or schedules, which makes fleet counts hard to confirm.

Milestones to watch are Turkish Hürjet deliveries from 2027, the first Spanish aircraft in 2028 and KAAN Block 20 serial production in 2028. For Africa, the test is whether the Nigerian air force turns its list of expected Aksungur and T129 aircraft into signed contracts.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is TUSAŞ and who owns it?

TUSAŞ is Turkish Aerospace Industries, a Turkish aerospace manufacturer founded in 1973. Its website lists the Turkish Armed Forces Foundation and the Presidency of Defence Industries as parent bodies. It builds helicopters, trainers, fighters and drones, and exports to customers in Africa, Asia and Europe.

Which African countries have bought from Turkish Aerospace?

Documented buyers are Nigeria (T129 helicopters), Chad (Hürkuş-C, Anka-S and Aksungur), Niger (Hürkuş and Aksungur) and Tunisia (Anka-S). Angola has a contract for Aksungur drones with no confirmed delivery, and Algeria is reported, without confirmation, to have ordered Anka-S. Egypt built F-16s with TUSAŞ in the 1990s.

Does Turkish Aerospace build aircraft in Africa?

No African production line has been announced. The company plans offices in Algeria and Nigeria, according to its chief executive in May 2025, and signed a joint-production memorandum in Saudi Arabia. Egypt’s F-16s were built in Turkey in the 1990s.

What is TUSAŞ’s largest export contract?

The largest reported deal is Indonesia’s order for 48 KAAN fighters, signed on 26 July 2025. Spain’s EUR 2.6 billion contract for 30 Hürjet followed on 29 December 2025. The chief executive put the Indonesian deal at around USD 15 billion in a January interview.

Sources

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Adrian Cole Administrator All articles

Africa defence and security correspondent at DefenceMENA, covering procurement, defence industry and armed forces across the continent.

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