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Türkiye's indigenous jet trainer aircraft Hurjet has secured a landmark agreement with Spain, outperforming competing American and Italian alternatives to become the Spanish Air Force's top choice for its next-generation trainer jets.
A memorandum of understanding was signed between Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI), Airbus, and the Spanish Ministry of Defense at the International Defense and Security Fair (FEINDEF) in Madrid. The agreement paves the way for the sale of Hurjet to Spain and establishes a framework for joint infrastructure production.
"Today is a very important day. Today, Türkiye has once again demonstrated its strength in defense aviation to the whole world," said Turkish Deputy Minister of National Defense Suay Alpay at the signing ceremony. "A memorandum of understanding was signed here today, and the whole world witnessed it. This is just the beginning."
According to Gokhan Ucar, deputy head of the Presidency of Defense Industries (SSB), Hurjet's advanced electronic equipment and modern technology gave it a decisive edge over American and Italian alternatives in the Spanish selection process.
"Hurjet's electronic equipment is newer and more modern. Therefore, we surpassed the American and Italian alternatives and reached this point with the Spanish, signing a cooperation agreement," Ucar told Anadolu Agency.
Demiroglu highlighted to Turkish defense industry news platform SavunmaSanayiST that Hurjet's supersonic capabilities were a significant factor in winning the contract, beating out competitors including Boeing, Leonardo, and Korea Aerospace Industries.
"Normally, you don't see supersonic flights in trainer aircraft, or you see very few. But our Hurjet was designed to reach supersonic flight," said Demiroglu. "Being able to conduct supersonic training on a trainer aircraft makes the training that was previously done on fighter jets cheaper and easier. This created a very significant advantage. Our competitors included Boeing, Leonardo, and Korea. We led this race because the features our aircraft possesses were more preferred."
Speaking exclusively to Turkish defense media outlet SavunmaSanayiST at the FEINDEF 2025 Fair in Madrid, TAI General Manager Mehmet Demiroglu provided important insights about the agreement and next steps.
"We have completed another milestone in our Hurjet's journey to Spain. We also took a big step with Airbus. They were selected as the national coordinator by the Spanish Air Force and the Ministry of Defense. What does this mean? It means we will carry out the industrialization part together with Airbus," Demiroglu told SavunmaSanayiST.
Demiroglu revealed that a MoU was signed with the participation of Airbus, 15 companies, and TAI, officially launching the "Spanification" process that will incorporate products from Spanish companies.
"In the next few months, we estimate within two months, an industrialization plan will be prepared and submitted to the authorities," Demiroglu explained. "After its acceptance, we will move to the stage we've been waiting for, the signing of the contract. We plan to do this in the third quarter of this year, or at the latest in the fourth quarter. We are working to ensure that the official contract signing of our Hurjet's journey to Spain will be completed within this year."
Demiroglu outlined to SavunmaSanayiST that the Hurjet export project will be executed in two distinct phases: "In the first phase, everything will be produced at our TAI facility. In the second phase, some will be produced at TAI, and some will be produced here in Spain. The details of what will be produced where will essentially be determined in the industrialization plan," he explained.
"But Hurjet will be ours, in every way. So it will be our own aircraft. We will be producing the majority at TAI. We will carry out the localization in the amount requested by the Spanish authorities, the Ministry of Defense, together with Spanish companies here. This is a great success in that sense," Demiroglu added.
Demiroglu emphasized the historical significance of this agreement for Türkiye's defense industry exports.
"Until today, our exports have been dominated by either naval, unmanned, or land vehicles. For the first time, a training aircraft, our Hurjet, will enter the service of another NATO country's air force—one of Europe's largest—immediately after we deliver it to the Turkish Air Force, or even before we deliver it. This is another source of pride for us," he said.
"Our country has added another medal, another star to this glorious journey it embarked on 20 years ago. This is the success of TAI and everyone who contributed to making this happen," Demiroglu said.
The goal is for Hurjet to enter the inventories of both Turkish and Spanish Air Forces by 2028, with efforts underway to potentially accelerate this timeline.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also emphasized the importance of this achievement in a recent statement on X and said, "An important agreement was signed yesterday in Spain for our Hurjet project. As a result of the agreement, Airbus and TAI will work together to enter the Hurjet into the Spanish Air Force Command inventory. We have now reached a position where UAV and UCAV technology, which was not provided to our country for a while due to inappropriate excuses, is admired worldwide. While we used to be a country that used to knock on others' doors to buy products, thank Allah, we have now become a country whose doors are being knocked on. We want to achieve the same success story with our training aircraft, Hurjet."
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