Turkish Aerospace (TUSAS): from a 1984 F-16 joint venture to six business groups
Turkish Aerospace, known in Turkish as TUSAS, was founded on 28 June 1973 within the Ministry of Industry to reduce Turkey’s reliance on outside sources for defence aviation. In 1984, the Turkish-American joint venture TUSAS Aerospace Industries (TAI) was created for 25 years to handle F-16 production, systems integration and flight testing for the Turkish Air Force.
In 2005, before the 25-year term ended, the foreign shares were bought by Turkish shareholders and the company restructured. TAI and TUSAS have since merged under the TUSAS banner as Turkey’s technology centre for modernisation, manufacturing, integration and lifecycle support of aerospace and space systems.
Six business centres
The company operates through six strategic centres: Structural, Aircraft, Helicopter, UAV Systems, Space Systems and the National Combat Aircraft (MMU) group.
Scale
TUSAS employs more than 16,000 people and works from a 4-million-square-metre campus in Ankara that houses several notable test centres. It has also opened a new office in Malaysia.
Why it matters to NATO partners
The F-16 heritage means Turkish Aerospace has decades of integration experience with US-origin platforms, now applied to indigenous programmes. Current revenue and export figures were not verifiable in the sources used and are omitted.
FAQ
When was TUSAS founded?
On 28 June 1973, as Turkish Aircraft Industries.
How many business groups does it have?
Six: Structural, Aircraft, Helicopter, UAV Systems, Space Systems and MMU.
