Historical Place of TEI in the Development of our National Aerospace Engines that Empowers our Defence

Apart from individual attempts such as flight trials of Hezârfen Ahmed Çelebi, aviation adventure of our country has started with the first airplanes imported during the last period of the Ottoman Empire. Although it was aimed to institutionally transform it into a national industry during the first years of the Republic, it completely failed in the following years, and Türkiye has become almost completely foreign-dependent in the field of aerospace engines until the 2010s. The awareness that has started during the Cyprus Embargo has become a state policy and turned into a “National Technology Initiative” in the last 20 years. Integrating its renewed mission and vision with significant state support provided to the defence industry, TUSAŞ Engine Industries (TEI) has achieved great success by developing 11 different, indigenous, and national aerospace engines in the last 8 years and left an unforgettable mark in Turkish aerospace history. This study shares the story of many national engines developed by TEI in recent years, some of which have achieved tens of thousands of successful operation hours in the sky.