How Turkey can help the Ukrainian Air Force under the new US policy – expert's explanation

The future KAAN fighter jet and modern Turkish drones may be a solution for Ukrainian aviation

Artem Dzheripa

News editor at LIGA.net

June 9, 22:43

Donald Trump (Illustrative photo: FRANCIS CHUNG / EPA)

Cooperation between Kyiv and Ankara in the defense industry could help the Ukrainian Air Force amid the "strange restraint" of the United States regarding assistance to Ukraine. This was stated by Valentyn Badrak, director of the Center for Army, Conversion, and Disarmament Studies, in a major article for LIGA.net.

The analyst recalled that aircraft engines for Turkish unmanned aerial systems were supplied by the Ukrainian company Ivchenko-Progress – in particular, on May 24, 2025, the latest Kizilelma drone with the AI-322F engine (fourth prototype) passed a successful test flight.

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"This is a very important project for the future of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Especially since the Turkish Baykar drone factory will soon be operational in Ukraine. After all, in the conditions of the strange restraint of the United States, Ukraine may find itself not only without advanced weapons on its existing F-16s, but may also not receive permission for Swedish Gripen aircraft (to which, by the way, German Taurus cruise missiles are "tied"), which have American engines and the decision on which depends on the mood of the head of the White House [Donald Trump]," said Badrak.

In his opinion, in such conditions, the future Turkish fifth-generation fighter KAAN (which "more confidently" gets rid of the F110 engines from the American corporation General Electric than the Swedish Gripen), as well as modern drones, may become a solution for the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

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Turkish Bayraktar TB2 drones played a major role in Ukraine's repelling of full-scale Russian aggression in early 2022. Subsequently, the occupiers tightened their air defenses – and the use of these drones sharply decreased (at least, the number of public reports about it and videos from drones became minimal and then disappeared altogether, with the exception of some reconnaissance episodes over the Black Sea).

Currently, the manufacturing company Baykar is testing a new model of the "bayraktar" – TB3.

On May 2, the US Department of State approved the sale to Ukraine of F-16 training and maintenance services, as well as related equipment, for a total of approximately $310.5 million.
In the same large article, Badrak stated that Ukraine could revive its aircraft industry by launching joint production of aircraft with India, and use the funds received to create a long-range air-to-air missile.