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Advancing Multirole Combat.
The TF-7 Kartal is a license-built variant of the SCF-66 Vanguard, jointly developed between Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) and Starcrest United as part of a strategic collaboration to enhance Turkey’s indigenous fighter capabilities. While retaining the Vanguard’s proven airframe design, the Kartal features larger, aerodynamically optimized wings for superior agility and high-altitude performance. Its most notable change lies in the propulsion system: the original NAF-2 supercruise powerplant—optimized for sustained speed with a reduced infrared signature—has been replaced with Turkey’s domestic TF-35000 afterburning turbofan, delivering 33,000 pounds of thrust and granting the Kartal raw acceleration and climb performance well beyond the base model. This joint development program ensures both technological sovereignty and combat flexibility, positioning the Kartal as a uniquely Turkish evolution of the Vanguard tailored to national doctrine.
Multirole Superiority
The TF-7 Kartal excels as a true multirole superiority fighter, capable of dominating the skies while delivering precision strike capabilities across multiple mission profiles. Its weapons suite blends the best of Turkish and Western arsenals, giving it unrivaled flexibility in coalition and national operations. For air-to-air combat, the Kartal integrates indigenous Gökdoğan BVR missiles, alongside the AIM-132 ASRAAM and AIM-120 AMRAAM, ensuring superiority across both visual and beyond-visual ranges. In the strike role, Starcrest United enhances the platform with a tailored set of precision and tactical munitions, including SUGO unguided bombs for close support, the GASSAM air-to-ground missile for hardened targets, and the versatile SGB guided bomb series for surgical strikes. To further extend its role in networked operations, the Kartal can be equipped with AI-assisted ECM pods, designed to suppress enemy air defenses and conduct advanced electronic warfare. This makes it an invaluable force multiplier not only for the Turkish Air Force but also as a support asset to the KAAN, ensuring Turkey maintains regional air dominance with a balance of sovereignty, versatility, and cutting-edge technology.
Development Benefits
The development of the TF-7 Kartal brings with it a host of strategic benefits that extend far beyond its combat capabilities. As Turkey’s first jointly-developed license-built fighter with Starcrest United, the Kartal program stands as a symbol of national pride, showcasing the country’s ability to field an advanced multirole platform powered by its own TF-35000 afterburning engines. By integrating Turkish-built components and indigenous weapons, the program bolsters domestic defense production, creating high-value jobs and expanding the country’s aerospace manufacturing base. At the same time, the partnership with Starcrest United strengthens ties with one of the world’s foremost defense contractors, ensuring both the transfer of advanced technologies and long-term collaboration opportunities. Beyond industry and diplomacy, the Kartal directly enhances Turkey’s national security, providing an advanced, sovereign-controlled platform that reduces reliance on foreign suppliers while solidifying Turkey’s role as a regional power with the ability to deter and respond to evolving threats.
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