Air Force in my childhood dream

F-16 Project:

Today I want to share a childhood dream with you. As you know, people in their 40s like us met with military aviation in parallel with the F-16 project. Because with this project, the defense media was also cheered up and caused a rise in public awareness through magazines in that era when there was no internet. I remember constantly following magazines like Defense and Aviation, M5, Uçantürk from newsstands. In addition, from time to time, satisfying articles in the fields of military technology were published in Bilim Teknik, which I followed with enthusiasm as a student.

With the First Gulf War, which followed and was broadcast live on television for the first time, the interest in military matters in the whole world and in our country increased considerably. The production project of the first batch of 160 F-16 aircraft in Turkey (Peace Onyx 1) was nearing the end. In return for being on the side of the USA in the Gulf War and cutting the Iraqi oil pipeline, it was decided that some of the losses incurred by Turkey would be covered by the Arab countries pointed out by the USA. In this context, Arab countries transferred funds for the production of 80 second batches of F-16s (PO-II). The USA also donated some second-hand F-4E aircraft to Turkey. These were presented as a result of our contributions in the Gulf War.

Although I knew that choosing the F-16C/D was a very good decision, some things still bothered me. I can say that I was a solid reader even before the military aviation field got on my radar. One of my favorite fields was history. Military history was the subject of the books I read with great pleasure. I remember that I came to an assessment by myself from the readings I made: Reserve / reserve forces were very, very important militarily. In fact, I read that in many field battles in history, as a result of the entry of these reserve (and therefore more vigorous) forces into the war, results were obtained with battles that brought decisive victory. No matter how fast or technological, aviation was also a military field. I thought we didn't have a meaningful reserve force in this area. This also bothered me.

The Dream of Creating a Provident Force from F-5 E/F Aircraft:

In this process, I would like to talk about another issue that I noticed from the perspective of an adolescent. We had a certain amount of US-made F-5A/B and its training derivative T-38 aircraft. The manufacturer of these aircraft, Northrop, produced an upper version of these platforms and managed to sell the F-5E / F aircraft under the name "Tiger". For a reason I cannot understand, Turkey preferred to stay away from this very capable aircraft. Then, an F-20 TigerShark aircraft, derived from the F-5E/F, was created, with a single engine and capable of competing with the F-16 in every respect.

I could understand the US air force's preference for the F-16 within the framework of the ATF program. However, I also felt that there was a conscious choice behind the undervaluation of the F-5 and F-20 aircraft. Because these planes were too good to be in service for many years, and in the right hands, it was clear that they would outlive the US predicted. The simple and reliable technologies on which they were built provided an unsuitable ground for secret plans and intentions. You could put a box or a part inside the computer system, but placing things inside the hydraulics was very difficult, especially if the user had a good command of the language of this technology. It was an aircraft that was proud of providing the highest sortie rate in the war, especially with the extremely short line maintenance times of the F-20 warplanes and its structure suitable for rapid resupply / renewal. In fact, it seemed to be part of a solution that many air forces, including Turkey, needed.

On the other hand, I was satisfied with the F-16 project. I loved this plane and having it in our air force gave me confidence at a young age. But before the F-16, I also wished that we could start an initiative that would continue the development on the F-5E/F and F-20, and both produce and export a number of aircraft. TAI (TUSAŞ), which was established in Ankara in partnership with Lockheed Martin, was a very good initiative. But I couldn't help but wonder if we could set up a company in Eskişehir in partnership with Nortrop and make use of the established personnel and facilities of our air force, and give this affordable and efficient airplane a unique shape. Maybe I was daydreaming, but my reality at that time was to concentrate on these planes. The biggest reason for this dream was a tangible reality: If you are not the manufacturer of your own aircraft, you cannot dream of establishing a reserve force and configuring an additional reserve force.

Details of my Dream Air Force:

Back then, my dream reservist plan was: keep 200 fighter jets on the sidelines. One of these was to deploy 80 of them (4 squadrons) in active flights as part of our air force, in two squares, one in the east and one in the west, while deploying the other 120 aircraft (6 squadrons) in 2-3 separate air bases in the Central Anatolia Region. This reserve force would be stored in climate-controlled, bomb-proof, underground warehouses. It would be taken into the shelter by the elevator system. At 2-3 year intervals, these would alternately replace the aircraft in active fleets. Once stored, all maintenance would be carried out and the aircraft would be guaranteed to be ready for combat.

Active squadrons could also be used to keep the knowledge and experience fresh for all pilots and maintenance personnel, who both take to the airline and enjoy retirement. Thus, we would be able to continue to have F-5 warplanes that will be kept on the sidelines as a reserve force for many years (70-80 years) alongside the F-16 aircraft in active use.

At that time, in parallel with the F-16 project, the establishment of the Undersecretariat of Defense Industry, the supply of all forces' needs in a new organization, through a central system with a new enthusiasm, opened the doors of hope for a young boy like me. I thought that this momentum would continue and we would take steps to reach the domestic and national defense industry without slowing down. Of course, I was too old to know that the mechanism called the state was a gigantic grinder that would extinguish dreams and hopes in the first place. I was not aware of the bureaucratic cumbersome order. I learned over time.

New Applications in the Unchanging Philosophy of War

Many years have passed. My youth has evolved over time into maturity. Meanwhile, our world has really changed quite radically. At that time, 3rd and 4th generation airplanes were in the skies. Nowadays, in developed countries, 4+ and 5th generations protect the airspace of the countries. At that time, things that I could not understand about the equipment of modern aircraft worried me. Now even their software has become very complex. Aircraft production became more expensive as it became more complex. Warplanes have become so rambunctious that the meaning of even staying aloft, unless they are part of a network, has come into question. Along with life, the nature and environment of war has also changed a lot. A different form of warfare began to emerge from the books I had read.

But in fact, the philosophy of war hasn't changed at all. A thousand years ago, our ancestors were aiming to encircle the enemy with the goose-wing tactic by making various maneuvers. Now, the US Air Force, which we take as an example, is trying to apply the same tactic by placing stealth F-35As around the F-15EX aircraft detected on the radar. Then they aim to do something similar with the cooperation of manned and unmanned platforms. In other words, many things are changing radically, accelerating in terms of vehicles. However, since the aims have not changed, the old methods and tactical practices also adapt to the new tools while preserving their philosophical base.

I must honestly admit. I have now given up on this childhood dream of mine. Although we now have a more clearly localized and nationalized defense and aerospace industry, I realized that my dream is not sustainable, and even if it did, it would be costly. However, if we had strong financial resources and sufficient technical means, I would undoubtedly pursue other dreams. For example, building a combat navy aviation subordinate to our Navy. Or I would invest in unmanned systems (in different forms from many other examples in ours and around the world).

Complexity and reality in aircraft manufacturing

I understood this clearly. Every thought is valid in its own age and beautiful in its own age. Even the brightest ideas that are not implemented in time become meaningless when the day passes. Especially in our age, things have become quite complicated now. We are experiencing a transformation from the industrial age to the information age civilization. This actually creates a great chaos in military aviation. This transformation trend is not like the 3rd and 4th generation of the past. Now 4+, 5-, 5, 5+, 6-, 6, etc. generations and transitions are completely blurred. A new era is opening up in front of us, in which it will become imperative to deal with things in a very different structure, in a very different way, that we are having difficulty even understanding.

This new era has another feature. Now humans and other types of intelligence are making scientific predictions, from the philosophical to the operational side. It tests it over and over in simulation environments, with different parameters. By choosing an approach that he believes will be effective, he has to build on it. The things he builds are also tested by fire. So it's being tested on the real battlefield. This situation can have an impact on the future of a nation, a state or even the entire humanity. Being able to do this unlocks a potential that goes far beyond just being able to track those who do it.

We are currently focused on a possible Turkish-Greek conflict. It could even be said that somewhere this possibility has been deliberately heated. The possibility of such a conflict also highlights the air force in particular. The chain of thoughts led me back to my childhood dreams. This dream I mentioned in my article is the things that naively crossed my mind in my childhood. Yes, I gave up on this dream. But I wonder if it should be abandoned? Or what new dreams should be put in its place?