ANKARA, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed on Monday to make 2023 a year of a turning point for the country's indigenous defense industries.
"We are determined to make 2023 a turning point in the defense industry along with other fields," Erdogan said at a ceremony for the delivery of six new domestically made Firtina (Storm) howitzers to the Turkish Armed Forces in the northwestern Sakarya province.
Two more Altay main battle tanks will be handed over to the army for tests before its planned serial production in 2025, Erdogan announced, adding that this number will reach 140 in total.
Turkish fighter drone Kizilelma, officially known as the National Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle System, will carry out its flight maneuver tests in 2023, the president said.
Türkiye will get the National Combat Aircraft (MMU) out of the hangar and present it to the public in 2023, he added.
All systems of the aircraft are successfully installed and its tests for the flight control system, engine and hydraulic systems are made, Temel Kotil, general manager of Turkish Aerospace Industries, told local CnnTurk broadcaster on Monday.
Türkiye started to develop the TF-X or MMU project, its fifth-generation fighter aircraft, in 2011 and accelerated the process after the United States excluded its NATO ally from the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program due to Ankara's purchase of Russian S-300 air defense systems. ■
