HÜRJET’s drag chute will come from Çorum as YILTEX SKY joins the TUSAŞ supply chain
Drag chutes are the kind of component that never appears in a programme announcement and then quietly becomes a sovereignty problem. Turkey has now moved that item onto home soil for its indigenous jet trainer: the brake parachute for Turkish Aerospace’s HÜRJET will be produced in Çorum, central Anatolia, by YILTEX SKY Paraşüt Sistemleri A.Ş., which has registered as a TUSAŞ subcontractor.
The company is standing up a 5,000 m² parachute production line in the Çorum organised industrial zone. It was formed as a 50/50 joint venture with Langit Biru Parasut Sistemleri of Indonesia, whose own plant employs 600 people and covers parachute fabric manufacture as well as cut-and-sew.
Why an Indonesian partner rather than a European one
The choice is more interesting than it looks. Parachute canopy fabric, seam tape and suspension-line cordage sit under export-control and supply-allocation regimes in the United States and Western Europe, and Western canopy houses are largely tied to their own national programmes. Indonesia offers an integrated textile base — fabric, weaving and assembly under one roof — without those constraints and at a cost structure Turkey can work with.
Company leadership has said the target is full domestic production of both the HÜRJET drag chute and the personnel parachute within two years, with R&D for fabric manufacture already completed at a company in Bursa. That fabric step is the real threshold. Sewing a canopy is a capability many countries have; weaving certified low-porosity ripstop to aerospace specification is not.
The product range behind the headline
| Personnel parachutes | Civil, military and sport |
| Cargo parachutes | G-series, LBP-GPSR, LCADS |
| Aircraft brake parachutes | Jet platforms including HÜRJET |
| Illumination parachutes | 81 mm, 105 mm, 120 mm, 155 mm ammunition |
The LCADS reference is notable for NATO readers: the Low Cost Aerial Delivery System family is the US expendable airdrop standard, and a supplier working to that pattern is positioning for coalition-compatible resupply, not just national orders. The illumination-parachute line — the small canopies inside 81 mm and 120 mm mortar and 105 mm and 155 mm artillery illumination rounds — is consumable business that generates recurring volume regardless of aircraft programmes.
YILTEX SKY lists a representation in DeLand, Florida, a town that is effectively the centre of gravity of the US sport-parachute industry, and is a member of the Parachute Industry Association.
The parent company
Yıltex Teknik Tekstil Konfeksiyon Sanayi ve Ticaret A.Ş. operates from the Çorum organised industrial zone. By its own account it has been in textiles since 1980, moved into its current 5,000 m² plant in 2000 and employs around 250 people. It runs a second defence brand, YILTEX ARMOR, in ballistic protection, alongside military and police uniforms, workwear, gloves and boots. The group exhibited at IDEF 2025 in Istanbul from 22 to 27 July 2025 and belongs to the SAHA İstanbul cluster.
HÜRJET itself is a single-engine, tandem-seat jet trainer and light attack aircraft. Serial production is under way and deliveries to the Turkish Air Force are planned for 2026. The type also has an export baseline: Spain contracted it as its advanced trainer, designated Saeta II, for 30 aircraft to replace the F-5M, with deliveries from 2028-2029 and roughly 60 per cent Spanish industrial participation led by Airbus. That makes the sourcing of consumable items such as drag chutes a supportability question for a second NATO air force, not only a Turkish industrial-policy one.
Frequently asked questions
Who will build HÜRJET’s drag chute?
YILTEX SKY Paraşüt Sistemleri A.Ş. of Çorum, registered as a subcontractor to Turkish Aerospace (TUSAŞ).
Is the parachute fabric Turkish?
Not yet. The company says R&D for domestic fabric production has been completed with a firm in Bursa and targets full local content within two years.
What is the Indonesian connection?
YILTEX SKY is a 50/50 joint venture with Langit Biru Parasut Sistemleri, an Indonesian parachute manufacturer with an integrated fabric and assembly plant.
Sources
- YILTEX SKY corporate site — company and product pages (yiltexsky.com)
- haber.aero, report on HÜRJET brake parachute production in Çorum
- Çorum Haber, profile of the Yıltex group
- Turkish Aerospace, HÜRJET product page (tusas.com)
- Parachute Industry Association member record; SAHA İstanbul member record
Related: YILTEX company file
