Turkish Aerospace (TAI) is seeing progress across its rotorcraft portfolio, with continued work on the T625 Gokbey helicopter and a pending restart of T-70 production.
A 6t-class helicopter, the Gokbey is powered by a pair of two CTS800 turboshafts produced by the LHTEC joint venture between Rolls-Royce and Honeywell, but in 2023 also flew equipped with the Turkish Engine Industries TS1400 engines.
TAI chief executive Mehmet Demiroglu says that the T628, which sits in the same segment as the Leonardo Helicopters AW139 and Airbus Helicopters H160, is not aimed at the European market, but mainly at the developing world.
“We’re not really focused on the European market because there are a number of players, and that market is crowded,” says Demiroglu.
“Airbus is there, Leonardo is there, and it requires a lot of effort to get into that market when you have a much better chance to go around the remainder of the world and sell these to the other markets.”
For Turkish domestic requirements – the Gokbey is already on order with Turkish parapublic agencies – the helicopter will be powered by the locally-produced TS1400, while international customers will be able to chose between the LHTEC and TEI engines. Certification work on the Gokbey is ongoing.
TAI has also decided to prioritise its 10t heavy helicopter over the ATAK II attack helicopter programme. The company has a contract with Turkey’s forestry agency for the twin, and there is also interest from other potential users.
Despite prioritising the 10t design, Demiroglu notes that as the 10t and ATAK II programmes have the same drivetrain, dynamic components, and other commonalities “working on one of them automatically means that we are working on the other”.
He says the 10t helicopter will have its maiden sortie in 2026.
The company also sees progress with its T-70, the licence-produced version of the Sikorsky S-70i export Black Hawk dating froma 2016 agreement.
TAI has delivered 17 examples and will hand over four more by year-end. In 2025, the company aims to ship 38 units, but that will depend on improved relations with the USA. The delivery of production kits from Sikorsky have been delayed owing to restrictions imposed on Turkey by the US government’s CAATSA (Countering America’s Adversaries through Sanctions Act) legislation.
“We are working hard on that one, and that we are hoping to hear some good news in August,” says Demiroglu.
He point out that the January approval of a long-delayed sale of Lockheed Martin F-16s to Turkey is a positive sign for the receipt of additional S-70i kits.
Local content on the T-70 includes avionics from Aselsan, TEI engines, and rotor blades and other components.
