Turkish Aerospace (TUSAŞ) in Africa: Confirmed Operators (2026)

Turkish Aerospace Industries (TUSAŞ/TAI) has a smaller but growing footprint in Africa than Baykar’s drone business, built mainly around manned aircraft. Nigeria operates T129 ATAK attack helicopters delivered from 2023, Niger and Chad fly Hürkuş-B/C trainer and light-attack aircraft, and Tunisia operates ANKA-S surveillance drones bought in 2020. Egypt has discussed possible cooperation on the KAAN fighter programme, but no purchase has been confirmed.

Last updated: September 11, 2026.

Table of contents

• What is Turkish Aerospace (TUSAŞ)?
• Confirmed and reported Africa/MENA ties
• Nigeria’s T129 ATAK helicopters
• Niger and Chad: the Sahel’s Hürkuş fleet
• Tunisia’s ANKA-S drones
• Egypt and the KAAN question
• Product comparison table
• Why TUSAŞ’s footprint differs from Baykar’s
• Subsidiaries and the wider ecosystem
• Competing platforms in the same segments
• FAQ
• Sources

What is Turkish Aerospace (TUSAŞ)?

Turkish Aerospace Industries, branded TUSAŞ or TAI, is Türkiye’s principal aircraft, helicopter, UAV and satellite manufacturer. It was founded on 28 June 1973 and is headquartered at Kahramankazan, on the outskirts of Ankara. The company is state-controlled and not publicly traded: according to its own disclosures, the Turkish Armed Forces Foundation (TSKGV) holds 54.49% of shares, the Presidency of Defence Industries (SSB) holds 45.45%, and the Turkish Aeronautical Association (THK) retains a legacy 0.06% stake. There is no free float and no way for private or foreign investors to buy equity.

Company statements from 2024-2025 put headcount at roughly 17,000 employees, up from about 7,000 a decade earlier, with the growth tied to the KAAN fighter, HÜRJET trainer, ANKA-3 and GÖKBEY helicopter programmes. TUSAŞ ranked 47th on the Defense News Top 100 list for 2025. Its chairman is Ömer Cihad Vardan and its CEO is Dr. Mehmet Demiroğlu.

Main product lines include the KAAN fifth-generation fighter (in flight testing, not yet exported anywhere), the HÜRJET supersonic jet trainer, the HÜRKUŞ family of turboprop trainers, the ANKA family of medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) UAVs, the AKSUNGUR MALE/HALE drone, the T129 ATAK attack helicopter, the T625 GÖKBEY utility helicopter, and structural/composite work packages supplied to Airbus and Boeing under industrial partnership agreements. TUSAŞ also builds Türkiye’s GÖKTÜRK and İMECE reconnaissance satellites and the structure of the TÜRKSAT 6A communications satellite.

Confirmed and reported Africa/MENA ties

Public reporting distinguishes clearly between countries that have taken delivery of TUSAŞ hardware, countries with signed but not fully delivered contracts, and countries where cooperation has only been discussed. The table below summarises the picture as of September 2026, based on the sources listed at the end of this article.

Two of these deals are frequently mixed up because of the similar country names: Niger (the landlocked Sahel state) was TAI’s first foreign Hürkuş customer, while Nigeria (the West African coastal state) is a separate, later T129 ATAK customer. The two contracts, countries and aircraft types are unrelated to each other beyond sharing a supplier.

Nigeria’s T129 ATAK helicopters

Nigeria signed a contract for six T129 ATAK attack helicopters from TUSAŞ in 2021. The first pair arrived in the country in November 2023, and a second pair followed in September 2024, with the remaining aircraft scheduled shortly after. The Nigerian Air Force has stated the helicopters are intended to support operations against Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) in the northeast of the country — a security and counter-terrorism context rather than a conventional inter-state conflict.

The T129 is a joint development between TUSAŞ and Italy’s Leonardo, based on the AgustaWestland A129 Mangusta airframe but extensively redesigned with Turkish avionics, ASELSAN sensor and targeting systems, and ROKETSAN-supplied munitions integration. For readers comparing regional air forces, our Nigeria Military Strength 2026 profile covers the T129 alongside the rest of the Nigerian Air Force’s inventory.

Niger and Chad: the Sahel’s Hürkuş fleet

Niger became TAI’s first foreign Hürkuş customer under a contract announced in November 2021, covering Hürkuş-B basic trainers. Chad followed with its own contract in October 2022 for the armed Hürkuş-C variant, which TAI’s management said at the time would be delivered by early 2023. By May 2023, the Chadian Air Force had publicly shown three Hürkuş-C aircraft and two ANKA UAVs, and deliveries to Niger were likewise confirmed complete around the same period.

The Hürkuş-C carries up to 1,500 kg of external stores across seven hardpoints and is marketed for combined basic training and light close-air-support roles — a lower-cost alternative to fast jets for air forces with limited budgets and counter-insurgency missions rather than peer conflict requirements. Reporting also lists Libya as a Hürkuş-C recipient, though with less independent corroboration than the Niger and Chad contracts.

Tunisia’s ANKA-S drones

Tunisia signed a deal in December 2020 for three ANKA-S drones, ground control stations, spares and training, reported at around $80 million and financed up to 85% by Turkish Eximbank. The agreement followed an earlier attempt in 2020 that had stalled over financing. TAI delivered the first two ANKA systems to the Tunisian Air Force in the second half of 2021, with the third following in 2022; up to 52 Tunisian pilots and maintenance personnel travelled to Türkiye for training. Some reporting also describes a technology-transfer element allowing local assembly work in Tunisia, with potential (not confirmed) onward resale to other African states.

Tunisia’s ANKA-S acquisition sits alongside the country’s broader military-strength profile; see our Which African Countries Use the Bayraktar TB2? guide for how Baykar’s competing product line has spread across the continent by comparison.

Egypt and the KAAN question

Egypt-Türkiye defence ties have warmed substantially since 2021 after a period of estrangement. In August 2025, Türkiye’s HAVELSAN and Egypt’s Arab Organisation for Industrialization signed an agreement to co-produce a VTOL drone at Egypt’s Kader Factory — a HAVELSAN programme, not a TUSAŞ one. Separately, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi raised the idea of Egyptian participation in the KAAN fighter programme during a September 2024 visit to Türkiye, and subsequent reporting describes both sides “exploring” cooperation. As of this writing, no purchase agreement, co-production contract or firm timeline for Egyptian KAAN involvement has been confirmed by either government, so this should be read strictly as reported interest, not a confirmed deal.

Product comparison table

Why TUSAŞ’s footprint differs from Baykar’s

Readers familiar with Türkiye’s drone exports to Africa often expect TUSAŞ’s footprint to mirror Baykar’s. It does not, and the difference is about product-market fit rather than one company outperforming the other. Baykar’s Bayraktar TB2 and AKINCI are lower-cost, combat-proven UAVs that a large number of African air forces have acquired for ISR and strike missions against irregular threats; see our guides on which African countries use the Bayraktar TB2 and confirmed AKINCI operators in Africa. TUSAŞ’s African sales, by contrast, centre on manned trainer and attack-helicopter platforms (Hürkuş, T129) plus a smaller ANKA drone footprint — categories where fewer African states have placed orders so far, in part because manned platforms carry higher through-life training, maintenance and spares costs than UAV fleets. Both companies form part of the same broader Turkish defence-export expansion into Africa described in our Turkish Armored Vehicles in Africa and Turkish vs. Chinese Drones in Africa coverage.

Subsidiaries and the wider ecosystem

TUSAŞ Engine Industries (TEI) is TUSAŞ’s engine-development affiliate and is working on the indigenous TF-35000 turbofan intended eventually to power KAAN, alongside TEI’s existing turboprop and turboshaft product lines. On the sensors and munitions side, TUSAŞ airframes sold to Africa typically carry ASELSAN avionics, sensors and electronic-warfare systems and ROKETSAN-supplied munitions and precision-guidance kits — both companies have their own, separately reported African footprints; see ASELSAN in Africa and ROKETSAN in Africa. TUSAŞ does not disclose a network of wholly separate African subsidiaries; its export model to date has been direct government-to-government contracts rather than local joint ventures, apart from the reported (not fully confirmed in independent sources) local-assembly element of the Tunisian ANKA-S deal.

Competing platforms in the same segments

In the basic/light-attack trainer segment where Hürkuş competes, several African air forces operate comparable Western platforms alongside or instead of Turkish types, including the Brazilian-designed Embraer A-29 Super Tucano (used by Nigeria itself, among others) and the US Beechcraft T-6 family. In attack helicopters, the T129’s most-discussed peer comparison is the US AH-64 Apache, flown by several African militaries in earlier-generation or Apache variants; our T129 ATAK vs AH-64 Apache technical comparison covers the differences in role and cost without asserting either platform is broadly superior. In the MALE UAV category, China’s CH-4 and Wing Loong families remain in service alongside Turkish types in several African states, a dynamic explored in our Sahel and continent-wide Turkish-vs-Chinese drone comparisons linked above.

FAQ

Does Nigeria operate Turkish Aerospace aircraft?
Yes. Nigeria signed a contract for six T129 ATAK attack helicopters in 2021, with deliveries confirmed in batches during 2023 and 2024.

Is Nigeria the same as Niger for these deals?
No — this is a common mix-up. Niger, the separate Sahel country, was TAI’s first foreign Hürkuş trainer customer (2021 contract). Nigeria’s confirmed TUSAŞ deal is for T129 ATAK helicopters, a different aircraft type under a different contract.

Has any African country bought the KAAN fighter or HÜRJET trainer?
No. Both remain in development/early production for the Turkish Air Force. Egypt has discussed possible KAAN-related cooperation, but no purchase or production agreement has been confirmed.

Who owns Turkish Aerospace?
It is state-controlled, with the Turkish Armed Forces Foundation (TSKGV) holding 54.49% and the Presidency of Defence Industries (SSB) holding 45.45%; it is not listed on any stock exchange. See our full Who Owns Turkish Aerospace? explainer.

What happened to Tunisia’s ANKA-S order?
Tunisia ordered three ANKA-S systems in December 2020 for about $80 million; TAI delivered the first two drones in the second half of 2021 and the third in 2022, with Turkish Eximbank financing most of the cost.

Is this article using Global Firepower rankings?
No. The operator information here comes from contract announcements and delivery reporting by outlets such as Defense News, The Defense Post and defenceWeb, not from Global Firepower’s informal index.

Sources

• Defense News — “Niger becomes first foreign customer of Turkey’s Hurkus aircraft” (Nov 2021)
• Defense News — “TAI to deliver Hurkus-C combat aircraft to Niger, Chad” (Oct 2022)
• defenceWeb — “Chad Air Force reveals Hurkus, Anka aircraft” (2023)
• Shephard Media — “TAI confirms Hürkuş-C deliveries to Niger and Chad”
• Overt Defense — “Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) To Supply Six T-129 ATAK Helicopters To Nigeria” (Jul 2022)
• Overt Defense — “The Nigerian Air Force Puts Its First Two T129 ATAK Attack Helicopters Into Service” (Feb 2024)
• Military Africa — “Nigeria takes delivery of second batch of T-129 ATAK” (Oct 2024)
• The Defense Post — “Tunisia Signs $80 Million Deal for Three Turkish Anka-S Combat Drones” (Dec 2020)
• Military Africa — “Tunisia makes U-turn, acquires 3 Turkish ‘Anka S’ drones” (Jan 2021)
• Army Recognition — “Tunisian Air Force gets 2 additional Turkish-made TAI Anka UAVs” (2023)
• Greek Reporter / Army Recognition — reporting on the August 2025 Egypt–Türkiye HAVELSAN/AOI VTOL-drone agreement and reported KAAN cooperation discussions
• Turkish Aerospace (TUSAŞ) public company disclosures on ownership, headcount and founding date, as compiled in this site’s own ownership and employee-count reference articles
• Defense News Top 100 (2025 edition), TUSAŞ ranking

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