KAAN fighter prototype makes its first flight, a 13-minute hop

Turkish Aerospace (TAI)/KAAN

The first KAAN prototype, P0, flew for 13 minutes on 21 February 2024 from Turkish Aerospace's site near Ankara, escorted by an F-16. It climbed to about 8,000 ft at around 230 knots, a basic handling check rather than a performance test, and came a year earlier than the original 2025 plan.

• First flight: 21 February 2024, 13 minutes, about 8,000 ft and 230 knots.
• Powered by two GE F110-GE-129 engines, about 131 kN each with afterburner.
• Originally planned for 2025, so the flight came ahead of schedule.
• P0 is a demonstrator; later prototypes are built to the production design.