Türkiye’s homegrown light attack aircraft Hürjet, developed by Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI), completed on Monday its first supersonic flight, an Anadolu Agency (AA) report said, featuring photos of the jet above the capital Ankara.
The governorship of Ankara announced earlier in a social media post that the aircraft would take the test flight in “a planned and controlled manner” between 9:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. local time on Monday, cautioning the citizens “to not experience any anxiety and panic.”
The aircraft took off from Mürted Air Base, meeting the sky at 9:45 a.m., the report from NTV said, adding that Hürjet “which performed its first flight above the speed of sound, made a controlled landing at 10:23 a.m. after staying in the air for 38 minutes.”
An F-16 fighter jet accompanied Hürjet as it took off into the sky for the flight, it added.
Supersonic speed is the speed of an object that exceeds the speed of sound (Mach 1).
Featuring a single-engine, tandem cockpit and modern avionics suite, the Hürjet is expected to play a critical role in the Turkish Air Forces Command’s inventory, leveraging its superior performance features.
The project was initiated by the TAI in August 2017, with a mock-up was displayed at the 2018 Farnborough International Airshow.
The Hürjet project was initiated to replace the Turkish army’s T-38 aircraft used in training and the F-5 aircraft used in aerobatic team flights and to meet the needs of potential international customers.
The aircraft completed its inaugural flight in April last year.
Hürjet is 13.4 meters (43 feet) long with a wingspan of 9.5 meters and a height of 5.1 meters.
The advanced jet’s maximum altitude is set at 45,000 feet (13.7 kilometers), along with its 2,721-kilogram (6,000-pound) payload and a maximum speed of Mach 1.4.
Recent media reports indicated Spain’s interest in Hürjet, noting advanced talks were reportedly underway for a potential aircraft swap. The aircraft was also showcased at the Egypt International Airshow last month.
