Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has said that the United States Congress is holding up export licenses for the General Electric F110 engines powering the first prototypes of the KAAN fighter jet, adding pressure on Ankara’s efforts to deliver its ambitious fifth-generation program.
Speaking on the sidelines of a Trump-Erdogan meeting in New York on September 26, 2025, Fidan claimed that “the KAAN’s engines are waiting for approval in the US Congress” and that licenses had been “suspended.” The statement suggests that Washington’s restrictions could delay the jet’s development timeline.
A critical dependency
The KAAN, built by Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI), is designed to replace Turkey’s F-16 fleet and give the Turkish Air Force an indigenous stealth aircraft. The first prototype flew in February 2024 and completed a second test flight in May 2024.
Those early prototypes rely on the US-made F110 engine, a derivative of the powerplant used on the F-16. Turkey has always intended to transition the KAAN to an indigenous engine, developed under the TEI TF35000 program, but that system is still years away from maturity.
Until then, access to US engines remains a bottleneck for flight-testing, low-rate production, and export commitments.
No delays, Ankara insists
Turkey’s defense industry has been under sanctions since its 2019 acquisition of Russian S-400 missile systems, with restrictions under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA). While the Biden administration approved a new F-16 sale to Ankara in 2024, Congressional oversight continues to complicate high-profile transfers.
Turkish defense officials have publicly denied that KAAN is facing setbacks. Haluk Görgün, head of the Presidency of Defense Industries (SSB), has insisted the program “faces no delays” and emphasized that Ankara does not plan to depend on a single supplier for engines.
Yet even temporary licensing obstacles could disrupt timelines for test campaigns, early deliveries, and credibility with export partners.
The KAAN is central to the Turkish Air Force’s long-term fleet strategy and has already attracted international interest, most notably from Indonesia, which signed a contract in July 2025 for 48 aircraft. Any sign that the program may stall over engine supplies could have diplomatic as well as industrial consequences.
The reliance on US engines is not limited to KAAN. Turkey’s Hürjet advanced jet trainer also relies on US-supplied F404 powerplants, creating another vulnerability if licensing restrictions are expanded.
