First flight of the Turkish Hürjet advanced trainer

The first supersonic light attack and advanced trainer aircraft designed and built in Turkey (Türkiye), the Hürjet, successfully completed its maiden flight.

At 7:35 a.m. (local time) today, the Hürjet prototype took flight for the first time from the runway attached to the Turkish Aerospace Industries (TUSAŞ) facility. During this first flight test, the aircraft reached an altitude of 14,000 feet and a speed of 250 knots. The flight lasted 26 minutes.

#HÜRJET takes to the skies! 🛩 🇹🇷

HÜRJET completed its inaugural test flight, achieving an altitude of 1️⃣4️⃣. 0️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ feet and a speed of 2️⃣5️⃣0️⃣ knots during the test, while remaining airborne for 2️⃣6️⃣ minutes. ✅ pic.twitter.com/A9ELNvO9xu

— Turkish Aerospace (@TUSAS_EN) April 25, 2023

The Hürjet prototype had been undergoing runway tests since March 18 of this year and when it took off today, it became the first military aircraft designed and built in Turkey’s history to take off. The Turkish Air Force (Türk Hava Kuvvetleri) expects to receive the first Hürjets from 2025.

Hürjet, an advanced trainer with attack capability

As reported by Turkish Aerospace Industries, the HÜRJET is a single-engine, tandem-seat aircraft with modern avionics and high-performance features, which will play a key role in modern pilot training due to its advanced characteristics.

The fighter variant provides a force multiplier on the battlefield through a wide range of mission capabilities and a maximum payload of 2,721 kg (6,000 lbs).

The HÜRJET project was developed to meet the requirements of the Turkish Air Force (with export potential) which needs to replace its aging T-38 Talon advanced trainer aircraft and F-5s in its aerobatic team with a modern, high-performance multirole aircraft.

The Hürjet was designed for advanced training of future fourth and fifth generation fighter pilots, as well as for air policing, ground attack, aerobatic flight and aggressor training missions.