Is Ethem Sancak the Reason for the Delay in MMU Kaan's Engine?

On 21 February, MMU Kaan flew with American-made F110 engines. We would all have liked the engines to be Turkish-made, but the whole project would have been delayed if the Kaan, which was prepared by TAI engineers and ready to fly, had to wait for engines produced in Turkey. Therefore, waiting for the national engine was not a priority for TAI. Contrary to what was initially envisaged, the processes of developing the 'indigenous and national' jet engine and the aircraft in Turkey could not proceed parallel to each other in terms of schedule. Unfortunately, the engine is a few steps behind.

Despite everything, I can say that it was a more accurate choice for MMU Kaan to make its first flight with the tried and proven General Electric F110 engines, in terms of risk management inherent in flight tests.

The strategy that came to the fore in the context of engine development for the MMU Kaan was to have TAEC, a joint venture between the Turkish Kale Group and the British Rolls-Royce, produce an engine suitable for Kaan requirements. Following the completion of the engine development, system and ground tests phases, it was envisaged that the Kaan would be switched to the TAEC engine with a phased integration approach. However, this foresight and planning could not be realised.

Ethem Sancak's insistence that "BMC will build the MMU Kaan Engine" caused a delay of at least two years in the Engine Development Process

In December 2010, the Defence Industry Executive Board (SSİK) decided to initiate the MMU project, and as a result of the studies carried out until the end of 2014, the following three different aircraft design options emerged:

Option One: FX-1, twin-engined, Lockheed Martin-style airframe

Second Option: FX-5, Single-engine, F-16-like airframe

Third option: FX-6, single engine, Saab JAS-39 Gripen-like canard fuselage structure.

At the 8 January 2015 SSİK meeting, it was decided to proceed with the FX-1 option. In order to implement this decision, a Request for Proposal Document was published on 13 March 2015 to develop the MMU engine. The aim was to develop the engine infrastructure in Turkey, and to increase the localisation rate as much as possible. Within this framework, three companies (General Electric, Snecma and Eurojet) responded positively. However, during the meetings with these companies, it was observed that these companies were not sufficiently keen to develop the Turkish jet engine infrastructure.

In the meantime, the search for a foreign co-operation company to support the MMU project, which will be carried out under the prime contractorship of TAI, has begun. Under the supervision of the MMU Project Management Office (PMO), responses to the Request for Proposal (RFP) issued by TAI were evaluated, and BAE Systems was selected in December 2015. A long-term strategic co-operation (including sales to third countries throughout the life cycle of the project) was envisaged with BAE Systems. In this context, it was planned to determine the configuration and engine selection of the aircraft together with BAE Systems through studies to be carried out prior to the contract signature.

On 5 August 2016, with the contract signed between the Presidency of Defence Industries (SSB) and TAI, TAI was designated as the prime contractor to produce the MMU Kaan. At the same time, the British engine company Rolls-Royce showed its willingness to establish an Advanced Manufacturing and Technology Centre in Turkey, "believing that it will play an important role in Turkey's establishment of a strong defence and aerospace industry worldwide". It also offered to produce the EJ200 engine used in Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets in Turkey. In this context, the British government was making intensive efforts before the Turkish government officials for the participation of Rolls-Royce in this project.

In those days, as a result of the negotiations between the UK and Turkey, a draft road map was determined in January 2017. In line with this roadmap, a £100 million (USD 125 million) 'Heads of Agreement' was signed between BAE Systems and TAI in Ankara on 28 January 2017. With the agreement, it was decided that BAE System and TAI will work together to develop the National Fighter Aircraft. The minutes of the agreement were signed during IDEF 2017. On 10 May 2017, the Exchange of Letters between the Governments of Turkey and the United Kingdom for the National Fighter Development Programme was held. The signing ceremony was attended by General Abidin Ünal, the then Commander of the Turkish Air Force.

IDEF 2017: Rolls-Royce and Kale Group to jointly produce engine for MMU Kaan

During IDEF 2017, the indigenous engine development project, which is intended to be used in the twin-engine Kaan configuration, was also intended to be put into operation in order to meet the operational requirements of the Turkish Air Force.

Since Turkey did not have any previous experience in turbofan engine development, the possibility of working with a foreign partner for the development of the indigenous engine was predominant. During IDEF, British engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce and its Turkish partner Kale Group decided to launch a joint project to produce engines for the TF-X.

Kale Group, known as one of the most dynamic groups of our country in the field of Aerospace and Defence, had completed its negotiations with Rolls - Royce, one of the world's largest aircraft engine manufacturers, in June 2016 for the development of gas turbine military and commercial aircraft engines that Turkey would need. The signing ceremony of this critical agreement was held on 8 May 2017 at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Istanbul. TAEC (Turkish Air Engine Company) Uçak Motor Sanayi A.Ş., which aims to develop and manufacture multiple engines for military and commercial/civilian aircraft programmes, was planned to use the entire existing capacity in Turkey for the design and production of all gas turbine components.

"We are talking about a big production target"

Speaking at the signing ceremony of the agreement during IDEF 2017, Osman Okyay, Vice Chairman of Kale Group, said that their global production capability and know-how encouraged them to take on greater responsibilities for Turkey's aerospace and defence industry.

Okyay said that one of Turkey's biggest goals is to build its own aircraft, and continued his speech as follows: "We are talking about a very big production target, from the national fighter aircraft called TF-X to civilian aircraft. There are very few countries in the world that can produce their own aircraft, and this is a very ambitious target. Our belief in our country and our production capabilities led us to seek a role in this project. In this process, we came across Rolls-Royce, a group as enthusiastic as we are. As Kale Group and Rolls-Royce, we have decided to become partners to design and manufacture the engines for our country's civil and military aircraft projects."

Answering questions after his speech, Okyay said that the partnership process will start with the recruitment of Turkish engineers and their training in the UK.

"We aim to fly the first engine in 2023"

Osman Okyay said that there is a long design and development period in the project, as it will be a new engine from scratch, and added: "We aim to fly the first engine in 2023. However, certification and improvement processes will take some more time. Our estimate is that mass production will start in 2030 at the latest (in the factory to be established on 1 million 100 thousand square metres of land purchased by Kale Defence in Bandırma), with all certification processes completed. I hope we can achieve this even earlier."

Stating that they also aim to develop other engines in the future, Okyay said that the name of the company to be established will be TAEC Uçak Motor Sanayi AŞ.

Rolls-Royce Official Cholerton: We believe in Turkey

Chris Cholerton, President of Rolls-Royce Defence and Aerospace Group, said that they are pleased to have the opportunity to work with Kale Group to develop a national engine for the TF-X project.

Pointing out that they support Turkey's goal of indigenisation in defence, Cholerton said, "Turkey will be involved in every stage of this project. We strongly believe in the local contribution it will provide. The UK is very determined to be a partner with Turkey. We believe in Turkey. This project is an indicator of our commitment to Turkey. There is also an enthusiasm for energy in Turkey. It is a good opportunity for us to bring our capabilities here with this and similar projects."

Speaking after the signing ceremony, SSB President İsmail Demir said, "British Rolls-Royce will produce engines in Turkey together with Kale Group."

Ethem Sancak Enters the Circuit, Engine Production Business Disrupted

How Was 'TAEC Aircraft Engine Industry Inc.', a Joint Company of Rolls-Royce and Kale Group, Blocked?

The British Rolls-Royce company, one of the world's largest aircraft engine manufacturers, made an initiative in this direction and a company called 'TAEC Uçak Motor Sanayi A.Ş.' was established in 2017 together with Kale Group. The new engine company was aiming to develop the aircraft engines needed by Turkey in the civil and military fields, particularly the MMU. Kale Group owned 51 per cent of the shares of the company established for joint engine production. Thanks to this initiative, Turkey was expected to become one of the few aircraft engine manufacturers in the world and to become an aircraft engine exporter.

However, due to disagreements on various issues, it became known in defence industry circles that TAEC would not be able to become operational, and Rolls Royce's jet engine factory investment, which was to be established in Turkey together with Kale Defence, was cancelled.

Did Ethem Sancak Prevent TAEC?

According to rumours, the Presidency of Defence Industries was also interested in the establishment of TAEC by Kale Group and Rolls-Royce to produce the MMU Kaan engine in Turkey. For this reason, during IDEF 2017, the establishment of TAEC in partnership with Kale and Rolls-Royce was supported. In fact, it was rumoured that Kale Group had received "authorisation" from President Erdoğan to establish the engine factory in Turkey together with the British, and that the two companies had signed the contracts at IDEF.

However, as soon as the signatures were signed between the two companies, all hell broke loose. More precisely, someone put a stone in front of this partnership with a very skilful move. Ethem Sancak, who was uncomfortable with this signing ceremony and who was known to be close to President Erdoğan at the time, stepped in and said, "How can you sign this signature without my knowledge? The gentleman (President Erdoğan) gave us, TRMOTOR, the job of producing this engine. This engine cannot be produced without us." It was rumoured in various quarters. Since no one was able to confirm this, Ethem Sancak's claim that he had received Erdoğan's authorisation had to be accepted as 'fact', and the SSB officials reluctantly gave up on giving the Kale Group the green light.

Thus, the 'inability to produce' the MMU engine was handed over to Ethem Sancak. BMC was transferred to Ethem Sancak in 2014 in exchange for $300 million after being transferred to the Savings Deposit Fund of Turkey (TMSF). Now the engine business has been transferred to TR Motor, a subsidiary of BMC, in which he is a major shareholder.

In reality, TRMOTOR Güç Sistemleri Sanayi A.Ş. was established on 20 April 2017, before IDEF. Allegedly, this company aimed to carry out design and development activities in the field of turbo engine technologies in Turkey. However, nothing was in place yet.

Meanwhile, TAEC Uçak Motor Sanayi A.Ş., a joint venture between Kale Group (51%) and Rolls - Royce (49%), submitted its proposal for a turbofan engine with Low Visibility and Super Cruise features and a thrust capacity of 27,000 lb to the Undersecretariat for Defence Industries in December 2017 as part of the TF-X Programme. Despite Ethem Sancak's swagger, the British continued to pursue this business for a while.

On 23 May 2018, during Erdoğan's visit to the UK, Rolls-Royce conveyed to Erdoğan, this time through the British government, its request to be involved in the national fighter jet TF-X project through TAEC, the joint company it established with Kale in Turkey. Subsequently, a letter of intent was signed between the two countries, stipulating that the conditions for this partnership to participate in the project would be discussed and finalised by 31 July 2018.

However, the desired output could not be achieved from this letter of intent. In November of the same year, the SSB signed a contract for the TF-X engine with TRMotor, 55 per cent of which is owned by BMC, a Turkish-Qatari joint venture. Apparently, the SSB found Rolls-Royce's offer insufficient and preferred to start working with the newly established local company "TR Motor".

In this regard, TR Motor's web page states, "Our company, all shares of which were acquired by Turkish Aerospace Industries as of 6 December 2021, has accelerated its activities by being assigned to carry out the engine production of the National Fighter Aircraft KAAN as of 10 April 2018."

Due to Turkey's insistence on TRMotor, it was reported that Rolls Royce withdrew from the TF-X project. According to the news on 4 March 2019 in Reuters, Rolls-Royce also withdrew from the fifth generation fighter jet tender after no agreement was reached. The contraction decision also included the partnership established with Kale Group in 2017 for the aircraft engine. The partnership aimed to develop engines for the next-generation fighter jet programme, also known as TF-X or the National Combat Aircraft (NCA). On the other hand, it was announced in March 2019 that the Rolls Royce-Kale Group partnership had submitted a new offer to the SSB for the TF-X engine. However, this proposal remained in the background due to Turkey's preference for the TRMotor.

Despite conflicting statements and developments that paved the way for BMC, it was understood that the SSB wanted Rolls-Royce to be part of the production process of the Kaan engine. As a matter of fact, in mid-November 2019, answering questions on developments in the defence industry on a television channel, İsmail Demir, the then President of the SSB, announced that they were once again seeking support from Rolls Royce for the TF-X engine.

On the other hand, Osman Dur, who was the General Manager of TR Motor at that time, was very confident about engine production on 10 January 2020: "About 80 engineers from TRMotor took part in the domestic and national engine design of the National Fighter Aircraft... We will provide the first start-up in our engine around 2026-2027. Then test work will begin. Around 2029, our National Fighter Aircraft will fly with our indigenous engine."

However, it was clear that things were not progressing as Osman Dur said. SSB officials were aware that the production of the engine, which constitutes the most critical aspect of the TF-X project, was unlikely to be realised under the leadership of BMC. For this reason, the British Rolls Royce, whose previous proposal to produce the engine of the TF-X jointly with Kale Group was rejected, was persuaded to support TRMotor, in which BMC is a major partner.

However, this process was not that easy. Negotiations with Rolls-Royce continued intermittently. In a statement made on 25 March 2021, İsmail Demir, President of SSB, said: "Rolls-Royce does not have an engine ready for this aircraft. They were offering to develop an engine for this aircraft through a partnership they established in Turkey, but among the conditions of that development, there were 5-6 items that we could not accept. We negotiated them for a long time, and in most of them, the issue came to where we wanted."

On 5 March 2022, he said, "We had the possibility of working with Rolls-Royce for the national engine. We had some concerns here, and as a result of the meetings we held, we eliminated these concerns. Work has begun." He announced that a happy ending had been reached with Rolls-Royce.

Conclusion

The cooperation agreement between TAI and BAE Systems was signed on 25 August 2017 and entered into force. Following the agreements, BAE Systems engineers started to send engineers to TAI for technical support and started to work at TAI. 

King, General Manager of BAE Systems, stated that the agreement would deepen the defence cooperation between the two countries and that the UK could open the doors for Turkey to produce engines, weapons and radars. Kale Group was to produce the National Fighter Jet engine together with Rolls-Royce.

Founded in 2017, TRMotor Güç Sistemleri Sanayi A.Ş.'s capital structure was initially 55 per cent owned by BMC Power Motor ve Kontrol Teknolojileri A.Ş., 35 per cent by TAI and 10 per cent by SSTEK A.Ş. After Ethem Sancak's ties with BMC were somehow severed, the share structure of TRMotor also changed. As of 26 December 2020, a new arrangement was made so that TRMotor's capital would belong to Defence Industry Technologies Inc. and TAI. What we currently call TRMotor is essentially nothing more than a subsidiary of TAI. The liberation of the company from Ethem Sancak, and the fact that it has no ties with him, has made it possible for TRMotor to seriously focus on producing the engine for the MMU Kaan. Under the leadership of Prof. Dr. Osman Saim Dinç, who became the General Manager of TRMotor after Osman Dur, engine development activities are carried out by engineers working at Hacettepe Teknokent and TAI campus.

I believe that TRMotor, under the umbrella of TAI, will succeed in producing the fifth generation jet engines that Turkey needs, and that the lost time will be made up in a short time.

Where did Ethem Sancak disappear to? Was his main task to undermine the engine development processes being carried out domestically for the Altay Tank and MMU Kaan?

References

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