Turkey wants Pakistan to produce KAAN 5th Gen fighter jets to fight US sanctions, Europe, and deepen ties with Russia

Recently, reports have confirmed that Pakistan has now made South Asia’s first 5th Gen Fighter Jets, due to which Turkey, Pakistan and China can now give a big blow to Rafale, Su-35 and F-35. Turkey and Pakistan have deepened defense ties, and Pakistan is actively partnering on KAAN. In January 2025, they announced plans for a joint factory in Pakistan to co-produce KAAN jets, focusing on airframes, avionics, and subsystems. This was formalized after talks at the Pak-Turkish Industrial Expo in April 2025. Pakistan’s Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC) and National Defence Complex (NDC) are contributing engineers and manufacturing expertise. Turkey was part of the F-35 program until 2019, when it was booted for buying Russia’s S-400 system. Recently it has been reported that Turkey is still afraid that its relations with US, Russia and Europe may get badly strained because Turkey is now making its own 5th gen fighter jet ‘KAAN’ due to which US is also considering halting Turkey’s F-35 programs but for now, amidst the growing friendship between Trump and Asim Munir, Turkey is now taking Pakistan along with it in the manufacturing of KAAN jets.

Why can’t Trump stop Pakistan and Turkey from producing 5th Gen Fighter jets in 2026?

In fact, given the relations between Pakistan and the US, US President Trump cannot stop the Turkish-backed KAAN manufacturing in Pakistan even if he wants to, as Pakistan is also now increasing its expenditure and interest in China’s J-10C, JF-17, advanced air defenses, and missiles. Recently, some reports have said that with the growing friendship between Asim Munir and Trump, Pakistan can now get huge defence and military technology which will prove to be a big blow for China, India and Afghanistan because Turkey also wants Pakistan to help Turkey in nuclear technology transfer, in return of which Turkey will provide fighter jets, drones and spyware assets to Pakistan. Some reports also say that Turkey and Pakistan are now leading the way in nuclear technology transfer and defence equipment, due to which Turkey will also use Pakistan’s soil for its upcoming 5th gen fighter jets and is trying to make Pakistan less than 5th gen fighter jets by 2030 before India. Recently, Turkey, Russia and Pakistan are also very close to each other, but due to the increasing nuclear demand between Turkey, Iran and Germany, Trump is afraid that Pakistan may again sell nuclear weapons and technology to Iran, Germany and Turkey. Because if Turkey acquires nuclear weapons then the German and Turkish armies will also not step back and all of them are concerned about each other’s interests. So it has been said that the way Turkey is now transferring top advanced 5th gen technology to Pakistan proves that in future, talks can move forward on direct nuclear negotiation between Pakistan and Turkey.