Tusas Aerospace Industries (TAI) is leading the development of the Turkus primary trainer for the Turkish air force, after winning a contract in March 2006. The company late last year completed conceptual design work on the tandem-seat design, with the project now having moved into its almost-five-year pre-design phase. TAI is to produce two mock-ups and two prototypes of the turboprop-powered trainer under its development deal.
TAI faces competition from the Embraer EMB-314 Super Tucano and Korea Aerospace Industries KT-1 to meet a basic trainer requirement for 32 aircraft, plus 18 options. The Pilatus PC-9 and Raytheon T-6 Texan II have already been eliminated from the contest.
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Source: Flight International
