Turkey and Pakistan are set to develop a fifth-generation fighter jet to replace their aging US-made F-16s, Gabriel Onrada wrote in an op-ed for Asia Times.

The Turkish TF-X fighter program, which was first announced in 2016, will be a joint Turkish-Pakistani project. The goal is to make Turkey and Pakistan the rising powers in the Islamic world, instead of their rivals - Iran and Saudi Arabia, the author notes.

Turkey is seeking alternatives to modernizing its airborne firepower after the United States halted purchases of F-35 fighter jets in response to a 2019 acquisition of Russian S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems. The TF-X is currently in the concept design stage.

According to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the TF-X will be introduced next year. Turkey will take the fifth-generation aircraft out of the hangar in 2023, and its first flight will take place in 2025, Erdogan said in early January. According to him, the stealth fighter will enter service with the Turkish Air Force in 2029.

This year, some operations will move to Pakistan to help further improve cooperation in the defense industry between the two countries.

Pakistan also has its own fighter project under the Azm project, which was officially announced in 2017. However, both Turkey and Pakistan are facing problems in developing their own fifth-generation aircraft, the observer notes.