Turkish Aerospace Industries (TUSAŞ) is developing a carrier-capable version of its HÜRJET advanced jet trainer and light combat aircraft, a program that would place a Turkish-made manned fighter aboard the country's future national aircraft carrier for the first time.
TUSAŞ CEO Mehmet Demiroğlu confirmed the effort during the TEKNOFEST aerospace and technology event held in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus in early May 2025. He said that adapting HÜRJET for shipboard operations is a second-phase objective and that the company is working directly with the Turkish Naval Forces to make it happen. The new variant is being prepared to operate from either the TCG Anadolu amphibious assault ship or a next-generation platform, though which ship will host the jet has not yet been decided.
The naval version, sometimes referred to in Turkish defense circles as Hürjet-D, will be a conventional carrier aircraft rather than a short-takeoff-and-vertical-landing design. TUSAŞ officials have said the jet needs stronger landing gear and other structural changes to handle the stresses of arrested landings and ski-jump takeoffs. The company has already completed early studies showing the aircraft can operate from a short runway, but formal requirements from the Navy are still awaited.
Turkey’s push to put HÜRJET on a carrier deck follows its removal from the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program in 2019 after the country bought Russian S-400 air-defense systems. Without access to the F-35B short-takeoff variant, the Turkish Navy shifted its focus toward developing indigenous air assets for its expanding fleet of flat-deck warships. The TCG Anadolu, commissioned in April 2023, was originally designed to operate F-35B aircraft but was reconfigured as a drone carrier. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has stated several times that HÜRJET, alongside various unmanned systems, will eventually fly from the ship.
The longer-term ambition centers on the MUGEM-class aircraft carrier, a fully indigenous 285-meter, 60,000-ton vessel now under construction at Istanbul Naval Shipyard. Steel was cut on the first ship on January 2, 2025, and the Navy plans to launch the carrier between 2027 and 2028, with entry into service expected around 2030. The flight deck will use a short-takeoff-but-arrested-recovery layout with a 12-degree ski-jump ramp and no catapult system. Officials have said the carrier will carry up to 50 air vehicles, including HÜRJET, the Kızılelma unmanned fighter, the TB3 drone, and the Anka-3 unmanned jet.
HÜRJET itself is a single-engine, tandem-seat supersonic jet that first flew on April 25, 2023. Designed mainly as an advanced trainer to replace the Turkish Air Force’s aging T-38M fleet, the aircraft has steadily gained combat capabilities. Updated specifications released by TUSAŞ in early 2025 show a larger payload capacity of 7,500 pounds, a climb rate of 48,500 feet per minute, and the ability to carry the domestically developed MURAD active electronically scanned array radar. The jet is powered by a General Electric F404-GE-104 turbofan engine and can reach speeds of Mach 1.4. Those performance characteristics, combined with a relatively compact footprint, make it a plausible candidate for carrier-borne operations.
As of mid-2025, TUSAŞ had 16 HÜRJET aircraft in production for the Turkish Air Force and was conducting flight tests with two prototypes. The company also secured a major export deal with Spain, which agreed in September 2025 to buy up to 45 aircraft for its air force. TUSAŞ has separately proposed a carrier-capable version to the United States Navy as a replacement for the T-45 Goshawk trainer fleet.
The carrier-based HÜRJET project still faces technical hurdles, including the development of a reliable indigenous arresting gear system and the integration of corrosion-resistant materials suitable for maritime environments. Turkish Navy design office officials have said simulations confirm the aircraft can safely operate from the planned MUGEM flight deck, but no timeline has been announced for first deck trials.