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Türkiye and Spain will develop a joint version of the Hurjet jet trainer that could be offered to NATO allies and other friendly nations, Turkish Defense Industries Secretary Haluk Gorgun stated Wednesday, as Turkish defense exports this year passed $7.4 billion.
"The initial versions of Hurjet will be manufactured and delivered by Turkish Aerospace Industries. But with contributions from subcontractors in Spain and additional certification there, we will deliver a version that could become a joint platform for the two countries," Gorgun said at the opening of the IDA Türkiye Defense and Aerospace Industrial Cooperation Days in Ankara.
Spain's selection of Hurjet for its air force marks one of Türkiye's most significant defense sales to a Western European NATO member, and a co-developed version could open the trainer to wider allied markets.
"Our most striking cooperation with Spain is that our Hurjet aircraft was preferred with great appreciation by the Spanish Air Force, and the agreement we made with Spain under which Hurjet will at some point have a ‘Spanish’ version," Gorgun noted.
"While meeting Spain’s needs, they will later be platforms offered to NATO member countries and other friendly countries," he added.
Felipe Javier Carrasco Torres, deputy industry minister of Spain’s Valencia region, invited Turkish companies to a defense and security event in Valencia next September. "From today on, I want to say that we are brothers in industry, because together we will be much stronger," he said.
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The Turkish official also said Ankara's defense exports this year exceed $7.4 billion.
"That means we have already matched the previous year’s export figure as of today,” he added.
"Seasonality is very pronounced in the defense industry; in the last two months of the year, exports are far above the annual average. Therefore, I expect we will complete this year with an export figure above last year’s," he said, noting the sector has more than 4,000 companies and nearly 130,000 employees with an average age of 34.
Speaking at the 4th Turkish-German Economic Conference in Ankara, Gorgun called for easing export-control hurdles with Germany.
"I believe resolving the challenges stemming from export controls and licensing procedures is vital to fully unlock our cooperation potential," he said.
"We welcome the continuation of dialogue on export licensing practices affecting Türkiye, including those carried out by Germany’s Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control (BAFA). More transparent and faster licensing procedures will support defense industry cooperation, build trust in our companies and help us turn our common goals into concrete projects," the defense industry chief noted.
He noted the two countries’ long cooperation on Leopard tanks, minehunters, submarines and the A400M program, saying, "The doors of not only SSB but of all our more than 4,000 companies are wide open to our German partners."
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