Türkiye, Indonesia finalize historic sale of 48 Kaan fighter jets

Türkiye and Indonesia on Saturday finalized the sale of 48 Kaan fighter jets with a ceremony at the International Defense Industry Fair (IDEF) 2025 in Istanbul, according to Daily Sabah.

Representatives from both sides signed the agreement that makes the Southeast Asian nation the first buyer of Türkiye’s homegrown aircraft.

“With the political stability that makes long-term projects possible, and the vision and strong leadership of our President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, our defense industry is gaining new dimensions every year," Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz said in a statement on X after the ceremony. "May our national combat aircraft Kaan agreement with Indonesia be auspicious," he said, thanking all parties involved.

Financial details have yet to be revealed but the contract is valued at about $10 billion, according to Turkish media reports.

The deal includes the production and delivery of the advanced aircraft to Indonesia over a 10-year period.

New facilities are also to be set up in Indonesia, where Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) already operates an office, to get Indonesia up to speed with "localization" efforts as part of a wider industrial partnership.

Reports said 2nd and 3rd KAAN prototypes, expected to have internal weapons bays and aerial refueling systems installed and feature minor design changes to the airframe, are scheduled to make their maiden flights in April and July of 2026, respectively.

Kaan is a fifth-generation warplane that Türkiye has worked on for almost a decade. The jet was first publicly unveiled in 2023 before it performed its maiden test flight in early 2024.

Its serial production is expected to begin in 2028.