One of many Hürjet prototypes was noticed whereas flying with underwing weapon pylons, presumably hinting at TAI’s intention to pitch the jet within the extremely aggressive gentle assault plane market.
A picture of a Turkish Hürjet prototype emerged on Could 19, 2026, flying with underwing weapon pylons, suggests a weaponized variant is perhaps within the works. The image was captured by aviation photographer Enes Ötken and posted on his Instagram web page.
The placement might be assumed to be the Türk Havacılık Ve Uzay Sanayi Anonim Şirketi/Turkish Aerospace Industries’ (TUSAŞ/TAI) facility northwest of Ankara. The picture surfaced following claims emerged earlier this month {that a} fight variant is in growth.
This means a gradual progress in the direction of a light-weight assault model of the indigenously developed superior jet coach, competing in a decent market dominated by different merchandise just like the South Korean KAI T-50 and its gentle fighter FA-50; the Boeing T-7A Pink Hawk; the Italian M-346A Grasp; and the Russian Yak-130M.
What the picture reveals
The tail quantity on the airframe carrying the pylons is TUS-A003. This is similar airframe that flew with a brand new gentle and darkish grey paint scheme on Nov. 21, 2024.
The airframe has a flight knowledge probe (pitot tube) on the nostril and, contemplating each the touchdown gear and the speedbrakes are deployed, it was captured whereas touchdown after a check flight. We will additionally see what seems to be two cameras positioned in a v-pattern behind the touchdown gear, presumably to watch and document the vibration and impression the pylons have on the wings.
The Hürjet is at present reported to be in its serial manufacturing stage, and 4 prototypes are at present flying, with TUS-A003 being considered one of them. TurDef has claimed that the plane will quickly be built-in with the MURAD household of Lively Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radars, in addition to the Gökdoğan past visual-range and Bozdoğan inside visual-range AAMs (Air-to-Air Missiles).
Primarily, the jet will exchange the Turkish Air Drive’s (Türk Hava Kuvvetleri) older T-38 Talon jet trainers, of which the service operates 68 airframes, as per the 2026 World Air Forces report. Concerning the pylons on TUS-A003, little info is on the market, and no assertion has been launched by TAI.
Turkish and Spanish Hürjet fleets
The Turkish Air Drive (Türk Hava Kuvvetleri) has ordered 12 plane, whereas the Ejército del Aire y del Espacio (Spanish Air and House Drive – SASF), the Hürjet’s first overseas buyer, has signed on for 30 airframes, underneath the now-designated SAETA II program.
Sixty-percent of the jets shall be produced regionally in Spain, with an Airbus-led consortium producing many personalized subsystems and parts. The Hürjet will ultimately exchange the SASF’s present 19 F-5M trainers.
The Hürjets can be assigned to the Ala 23 (twenty third Wing) at Talavera La Actual Air Base, which at present operates the F-5Ms. These are used to coach pilots to fly the Eurofighter Typhoons and F-18 (Spain doesn’t use the F/A-18 designation for its Hornets).
The Hürjet would type part of a good broader Built-in Fight Coaching System (ITS-C), together with floor simulators, theoretical and sensible directions coaching aids, to raised put together TurAF and SASF aviators for future Gen. 4.5 and Gen. 5 plane.
HÜRJET’in hafif saldırı versiyonu da geliştirme aşamasında ve prototip aşamasında uçuş testleri zaten yapılıyor.
Bu varyantın geliştirilmesi ve sertifikasyonunun tamamlanması için ek zamana ihtiyaç duyulmaktadır.@TUSAS_TR Genel Müdürü @dr_mdemiroglu | pic.twitter.com/isJWASgW77
— KaraKulak (@KaraKulak__) Could 1, 2026
Savunmatr stated that SAETA II shall be cut up in two phases, with the primary section beginning in 2028 masking the supply of 21 plane, with one plane used as a prototype to check the Spanish elements, mission methods and avionics applied sciences developed by GMV, Sener, Aertec, Grupo Oesía, Orbital, and Indra. The bigger ground-based coaching system is slated to come back on-line within the 2029-2030 timeframe, whereas the second section between 2031-2035 will see the entire fleet of 30 plane transformed to the Spanish SAETA II customary.
The plane will fly with the U.S.-made GE F404 engines, not less than till the TF-series of domestically-developed powerplants being made by TUSAŞ Engine Industries (TEI) are operational to energy future batches.
#HÜRJET programı kapsamında, GE Aerospace ile motor tedarikine yönelik sözleşme imzaladık. ✈️
F404 motorlarını kapsayan anlaşma, HÜRJET’in seri üretim hedeflerine ve programın sürdürülebilir büyümesine katkı sağlarken, platformun küresel ölçekteki rekabet gücünü daha da ileriye… pic.twitter.com/YoBcoiVLfN
— Türk Havacılık Uzay Sanayii (@TUSAS_TR) Could 5, 2026
Hürjet naval model and Turkey’s subsequent provider
In a January 2026 interview with SAHA İstanbul, TAI chief Mehmet Demiroğlu additionally make clear the Hürjet’s naval model. The plane is slated to fly off the Turkish Navy’s future MUGEM provider, which has been depicted in each official and unofficial renditions with the coach plane among the many platforms it should function.
With out increasing on the precise curiosity of the Turkish Naval Forces within the Hürjet, Demiroğlu merely responded within the affirmative when requested if the service has contacted the producer for the plane. He additional reiterated the corporate’s manufacturing readiness to satisfy a bigger order.
#HÜRJET gerçekleştirdiği düşük irtifa–yüksek hız testleriyle rüzgarını Akdeniz’in üstünde, Torosların eteğinde estirdi.
HÜRJET’in Antalya’da iki prototiple yapılan 18 sortiyle 79 check noktası eksiksiz tamamlandı ve ses üstü hızlarda kritik veriler elde edildi.
Millî imkânlarla… pic.twitter.com/VfQsy3Sh2H
— Türk Havacılık Uzay Sanayii (@TUSAS_TR) March 13, 2026
“We will say that now we have entered mass manufacturing on this sense. Now, the arrival of Spain, and the truth that further orders shall be coming from the Turkish Air Drive and Naval Forces, which we anticipate very quickly, has additional accelerated our mass manufacturing preparations. We’re working in the direction of a manufacturing line of 100 models. Usually, for one of these plane, it’s one or two per thirty days. We wish to attain two per thirty days as quickly as potential, after which three per thirty days. And after we discuss mass manufacturing of those plane, it shouldn’t be in comparison with the mass manufacturing of automobiles. Even when you produce one plane per thirty days, it’s nonetheless mass manufacturing.”
Deniz Sistemleri Seminerinde, MUGEM ve TF-2000 ölçekli maketleri de sergileniyor. pic.twitter.com/NPs4YDAnQt
— Defence Turkey Journal (@DefenceTurkey) Could 26, 2025
Infographics at exhibitions have proven the long run MUGEM provider, a ski-jump Quick Take-Off Barrier Arrested (STOBAR) vessel, additionally working the Baykar TB3, the ANKA-3 UCAV, and the Kizilelma collaborative fight plane (CCA), in addition to the Hürjet.
A shout out to Enes Ötken for permitting us to make use of his {photograph}. You may observe him on his Instagram web page for extra of his work.
