No it’s not.
It only looks like one.
Very simple:
See the intake (red line) and the gap between the intake and body?
It’s called Caret inlet.
It’s to separate the slower speed air of the boundary layer from entering the engine, which will cause the engine to surge.
Caret inlet was OK for jet fighters, until the 5th gen fighters need stealth ability.
The caret inlet contributes 89.8% of F-22’s front radar cross section.
I.E. around 90% of the size of an F-22 shown on radar is because of the inlet.
On F-35, they used a new design called diverterless supersonic inlet.
It’s simpler and lighter, and it makes the jet less obvious on radar.
F-22 was designed before the manufacturer obtain the ability to draw the correct shape of a DSI, and it would cause the body to be redesigned if they want to modify F-22.
So US military leave the F-22s as they are.
But it’s kind of a standard for 5th gen stealth fighter now:
The front RCS of F-35 is 0.0015 square meters.
For J-20, it’s 0.001 to 0.005 square meters. J-20 at its worst is 3 times big on radar comparing to F-35, and usually there is no significant difference if the RCS is within 10 times.
The estimation of KAAN’s front RCS is between 6.7 to 66 times of F-35, that’s 0.01 to 0.99 square meter. That’s better than F-16’s 0.1 to 1.5, but not significantly better than Rafale’s 0.06+/-0.02.
So from the outside, it’s at the best a 4.5 gen.
Plus, I highly doubt from where should Turkey to purchase the avionics and engines…
Turkey claimed that it will develop a magical engine with 16 tons of thrust… judging by its previous experience being only 4.5 tons… I can only wish for a good luck.
We don’t know yet. The most challenging part for building a 5th gen, isn’t how stealthy the shape is. The external shape is the easiest part, because it can be designed on a computer and run countless RCS simulations.
The most challenging part is that, the production method changed. They can not be built with the same tools and methods used building a 4th gen. A lot of parts had to be forged under extreme pressure, or using very complex 3D printed structure, otherwise the fighter jet is going to flex, resulting in internal weapon bay couldn’t open under extreme load. Only very few countries have those tools, they all built by themselves, and won’t be exported.
It needs extremely large carbon fiber weaving machines for those wings, yet had to be designed by yourself. Good luck buying them.
The aircraft skin has to be produced in extreme large pieces and avoiding rivets as much as possible, even the riveting tool had to be re-designed. Building a production line for 5th gen aircraft are way more challenging than building the aircraft itself.
Let me stop here, skipping radar, engine, datalink…etc, but i hope people get the idea. Developing a 5th gen will easily cost hundreds of billions, making buying F35 from the US looks like a very cheap option.
So for KAAN, we don’t know yet.
First of all, to me, “5th generation” means “it’s stealthy”. Any other advanced features like data link or AESA radar can be integrated to older jets, but “true” stealth like the F-22 and F-35 (as opposed to semi-stealthy features like those in the Rafale or Hornet) has to be designed from the start.
Looking at some info available (and the fact that Turkey was once a partner in the F-35 program), the claim seems pretty credible.
It looks like a cross between the F-35 and F-22. The mockups showed internal weapon bays on the sides, something non-negotiable if you want a stealthy airplane because those pylons and weapons can show up on radar. It’s roughly the same size as the F-22 (actually slightly bigger) although it weighs closer to the F-35, so it definitely can carry weapons internally.
Right now, their first models are going to use the same engines as the F-16 but they are developing new ones in cooperation with Rolls-Royce. Since engines contributes to stealth, it might mean that it might not as stealthy as the F-35, but it’s better than the likes of F-16.
As for stealth coating, the same facility that was commissioned to make F-35 fuselages are now being used to make it for this airplane, so chances are, they know what they’re doing and will probably deliver.
So maybe Turkey is going to be the third country to make stealth fighter jets on their own after US and China (Russia’s Su-57 doesn’t count).
