Turkish Air Force Completes First T625 GÖKBEY Crew Training at Turkish Aerospace

Türkiye – The Turkish Air Force has completed initial training for its first flight crew assigned to the Turkish Aerospace T625 GÖKBEY multirole utility helicopter at the manufacturer’s facilities, according to Türkiye’s Ministry of National Defence. The helicopter is scheduled to enter Turkish Air Force inventory in October 2026, making the crew qualification an initial operational-training step ahead of the service’s transition onto the new platform.

• The first assigned Air Force flight crew completed initial flight and familiarisation training at Turkish Aerospace facilities.
• The first T625 GÖKBEY is expected to enter Turkish Air Force inventory in October 2026. The Ministry had previously confirmed in June that both the GÖKBEY and HÜRKUŞ were planned to enter Air Force service during 2026.
• Turkish Aerospace has a separate production contract covering 57 additional T625s, of which 11 are allocated to the Turkish Air Force. Deliveries under that 57-aircraft contract are scheduled from 2028 to 2031 and will use the domestically developed TEI-TS1400 engine; the October 2026 Air Force introduction therefore precedes that delivery batch.
• The 57-aircraft agreement increased total GÖKBEY orders to 83, with aircraft also allocated to the Gendarmerie, Land Forces, Naval Forces, Coast Guard and General Directorate of Security.
• The T625 received a CS-29 Large Helicopter type certificate from Türkiye’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation on March 16, 2026 following its civil certification programme.
• HAVELSAN has developed a GÖKBEY Full Flight Simulator to support type familiarisation, emergency, recurrent, mission-rehearsal and maintenance/test-pilot training in accordance with Level D standards.
• AFM previously reported that HAVELSAN completed the GÖKSİM Full Flight Simulator for GÖKBEY in 2026, creating a synthetic training capability intended to support pilot qualification and operational readiness as the helicopter enters service with Turkish operators. 

Source: Turkish Aerospace