[1] As of 2023[update], according to International Institute for Strategic Studies, the Turkish Air Force has an active strength of 50,000 military personnel and operates approximately 295 manned fixed-wing aircraft, 35 helicopters, and 52 unmanned aerial vehicles.

[15] In 1911 the former commander of the Action Army Mahmud Sevket Pasa achieved to send some Turkish military officers to the French Bleriot aviation school.

[15]: 74–75  Subsequently, the Ottomans employed German and French engineers who helped them to establish an air force with a dozen airplanes.

[1] After the Armistice of Mudros and the occupation of the Ottoman Empire by the Allies in 1919, some Turkish aviators tried to build new units in Istanbul, İzmir, Konya, Elazığ and Diyarbakır with planes left over from World War I and tried to bring together flight personnel.

The large cities in western Turkey were darkened at nights, and anti-aircraft guns and searchlights were deployed for defence against possible enemy planes.

[21] With the arrival of the first batch of 40 third generation F-4E Phantom II fighter jets ordered in 1972 and acquired between 1974 and 1978,[24] the Air Force was reorganized.

In 1998, the Turkish Armed Forces announced a program of modernization worth US$160 billion over a twenty-year period in various projects,[27] with $45 billion earmarked for the overhaul of the Turkish Air Force, and included the commissioning new combat aircraft (consisting of multi-role and fifth generation stealth fighters) and helicopters (consisting of heavy lift, attack, medium lift and light general purpose helicopters).

During this allied air campaign, TAI-built F-16s set a world CAP record by patrolling for 9 hours and 22 minutes above the Balkan theatre.

In August 2011, the Turkish Air Force launched multiple aerial raids against the PKK in Iraq, striking 132 targets in six days.

[37] Turkey is one of five NATO member states which are part of the nuclear sharing policy of the alliance, together with Belgium, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands.

[45] On 11 July 2002, Turkey became a Level 3 partner of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) development program, and on 25 January 2007, Turkey officially joined the production phase of the JSF program, agreeing to purchase a total of 116 F-35 Lightning II aircraft (100 F-35A CTOL for the Turkish Air Force and 16 F-35B STOVL for the Turkish Naval Forces).

[50][51] On 17 July 2019, the U.S. Senate passed a defense spending bill which prevents the Turkish Air Force from obtaining the F-35 stealth fighter aircraft due to the country's acquisition of the S-400 missile system from Russia.

[53] In January 2024, the U.S. State Department passed a $23 billion package that included the modernization of existing F16 fleets and new 40 F16 Block 70 fighter jets, as well as a wide range of ammunitions.

Peace Eagle 2, 3 and 4 were modified and tested at the facilities of TAI in Ankara, Turkey, with the participation of Boeing and a number of Turkish companies.

[59] On 4 June 2008, it was announced that Turkish Aerospace Industries completed the first in-country modification of a Boeing 737-700 into an airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) platform for Turkey's Peace Eagle program.

[60] The first Peace Eagle aircraft, named Kuzey (meaning North) was formally accepted into Turkish Air Force inventory on 21 February 2014.

[62] The six-year delay was a result of Boeing experiencing difficulties while developing some features required by the Turkish Air Force.

[57] In 1994 the Turkish Air Force signed a deal to lease two and purchase seven Boeing KC-135R Stratotanker aerial refueling tanker aircraft.

[63] All seven KC-135R Stratotanker aircraft of the Turkish Air Force have received the Pacer CRAG (Compass, Radar And GPS) upgrade.

The transport helicopters used by the Turkish Armed Forces include the Boeing CH-47 Chinook, Sikorsky S-70 Black Hawk and Eurocopter AS532 Cougar.

[69] The runway tests of TAI Anka-3, a jet-powered, flying wing type UCAV with stealth technology, began in April 2023.

It greatly extended the range of drone operations from the west of Europe to the east of Kazakhstan, with more resistance against jamming, rejection and wiretapping; high-definition live streams of targets and commanding of munitions drops.

[81] In February 2024, media reports indicated that Turkey's interest in the procurement of Typhoons remains, despite progress being made on the purchase of 40 new F-16Vs from the United States.

The two RAF Eurofighter Typhoon jets landed at Mürted Airfield Command in Ankara, the capital of Turkey, on December 14, 2024.

Turkish Minister of National Defense Yaşar Güler also emphasized that negotiations regarding Ankara’s potential purchase of the Eurofighter jets were progressing positively.

[83] In December 2010, Turkey's Undersecretariat for Defense Industries signed an agreement with TAI for a fifth generation fighter aircraft to ultimately replace the F-16 Fighting Falcon.

[86][87] In June 2021, the Turkish Air Force made an official presentation of the TF-X program to the media, which later became known as the TAI TF Kaan.

[88] The aircraft is designed and developed as a low-observable, twin-engine,[89] all-weather air superiority fighter[90] by TAI and BAE Systems as its sub-contractor.

[91][92] The TAI TF Kaan is planned to complement and eventually replace the F-16s of the Turkish Air Force and to be exported to foreign nations.

[107] 4th Main Jet Base Command was closed following the 2016 Turkish coup attempt and is now used as a temporary airfield for the Air Force.