There's a very big realization in the Turkish aerospace industry that to export their products they need to localize key components. So when I say they have access to technology, I mean that they have used and incorporated it, and are actively trying to make local versions of it. Not that they can buy ITAR products. For example, look at the Goktug program. They obviously have access to sidewinder and aamram and yet they are making their own versions. Part of the reason is, how can they export Kaan without missiles? Even things like the carbon-cloth used in composite parts is sometimes ITAR restricted and they've set up local production facilities for those. Lots of examples like that.
Like I said, they are very aware of the problems caused by reexport of ITAR equipment.
No, the main reason is that TuAF desperately lacks a missile inventory sizeable enough to last more than a couple days. The US doesn't even sell a screw anymore without hindering Turkish efforts and it is nowadays obvious that the Congress is so much so against Turkey that they'll block any efforts of any sale.
It hasn't started developing subcomponents recently, it has been developing them for 20 years now. People who don't follow developments only think this because only now has Turkey started to churn out major projects as complex as tank engines, large turbofans, IADS, early warning and intel UAVs, 5th gen jets and wingman drones. But the ground work, the components for these revolutions have been going under the radar for foreigners for a long, long time now.
Now you'll name Kaan and Hürjet as counter examples but as brain damaged as the Americans are, at least a minority of them understands that giving Turkey's regional opponents advanced aircraft and weakening TuAF too much at the same time is also against their own interests. They will supply the engines just so that Turkey can develop them but also won't allow serial productions of Kaan or the armed version of Hürjet, à la German block of engine sales for the Altay tank.
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Do not get me wrong, they absolutely want to weaken Turkey but they know they have to do it without encouraging Turkey's rivals too much. Many Turkish intellectuals and people in positions of power fear that Greeks may try something fanatical in the upcoming years as they've tried to numerous times in the past. These maniacs even shot down unarmed Turkish F-16s training in international airspace that they claim as theirs. This happened in the 90s btw
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Another reason is that the Greeks also have AMRAAMs, they have lots of experience with it, they know its performance and also how to counter it.
Do not get me wrong, exporting products later on is absolutely one of the reasons in developing them. But that lies maybe the in the 4th or 5th order in Turkey's priorities. This is the reason why Turkey started developing it a decade ago. They haven't developed national PGMs and SOM cruise missiles to export them, they developed it so that they have a munitions to use in active war whenever and however they like it.
Do you know how hostile Frnace is against Turkey? Do you remember the security pact France and Greece made in 2020? The main reason why Greece went with Rafales is so that the French can supplement them from their own stocks whatever they need in a conflict with Turkey. Be it SCALPs, Meteors, Exocets or even aircraft. They've been doing this for the last 50 years for this exact reason the Rafale deal is a contuniation and expansion of that.
And nowadays you have the US which wants Turkey to bow down to US and give up its national interests, and they actively deploy in every major Greek base so that Turkey can't target them in a conflict. How can Turkey respond in this situation when the likeliest scenario is that the Greeks will try to start something similar to 2019 clashes between India and Pakistan albeit 10 times larger.
Even a deaf man has heard that most allies of Turkey except Spain and sometimes Italy & the UK actively try to hurt Turkish national security these days. Turkish airforce command is hither and thither searching for a stop gap fighter, and even their allies who depend their security on Turkish fighter deployments in Eastern Europe don't allow any exports.
As delusional as that might be, there are now serious talks about developing twin TF10000 engined Hürjet in Turkish circles right now; why do you think that is?
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You Pakistanis greatly overexaggerate western support for Turkish military development since you have slightly better access than Turkey and also haven't developed something complex (except missiles) in house yet. Sure, you can't get F-16s or AH-1s but Pakistan can procure Erieyes and Sea Sultans, helicopters, CAMM missiles, VLS' and radars from the West. These are all the things that Turkey has to develop alone down to the simplest subcomponent since it doesn't have access to.
@JamD @Quwa @Nilgiri