Turkish Air Force
List of conflicts involving Turkey
The Turkish Air Force (Turkish: Türk Hava Kuvvetleri) is the aerial warfare service branch of the Turkish Armed Forces. The Turkish Air Force can trace its origins back to June 1911 when it was founded by the Ottoman Empire, however, the air force as it is known today did not come into existence until 1923 with the creation of the Republic of Turkey.
The Turkish Armed Forces initiated a $160 billion (excluding the yearly military budget) modernization program. $45 billion is earmarked to go to the overhaul of the Turkish Air Force. As part of this program, Ankara aims to commission new combat aircraft (consisting of TAI TFX and Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II) and helicopters (consisting of heavy lift, attack, medium lift and light general purpose helicopters).
According to Flight International (Flightglobal.com) and the International Institute for Strategic Studies, the Turkish Air Force has an active strength of 60,000 military personnel and operates approximately 668 manned aircraft (2014).
The history of Ottoman military aviation dates back to between June 1909 and July 1911. The Ottoman flight squadrons participated in the Balkan Wars (1912–1913) and World War I (1914–1918). The fleet size reached its apex in December 1916, when the Ottoman aviation had 90 active combat aircraft. Some early help for the Ottoman Air Force came from the Imperial German Fliegertruppe (known by that name before October 1916), with future Central Powers 13-victory flying ace Hans-Joachim Buddecke flying with the Turks early in World War I as just one example. The General Inspectorate of Air Forces (Kuva-yı Havaiye Müfettiş-i Umumiliği) trying to reconstruct itself on July 29, 1918 had no personnel, but only remained as a title on paper.
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