Another important milestone has been reached in the ÖZGÜR Project, which aims to modernize F-16 fighter jets in the Turkish Air Force inventory with national and indigenous capabilities. Within the scope of the project, the acceptance activities of the Mission Planning Software developed by HAVELSAN were successfully completed. This development enables modernized F-16 aircraft to benefit more effectively from a national software infrastructure in mission planning, ammunition integration, flight preparation and post-mission evaluation processes.

HAVELSAN’s Squadron Level Mission Planning Software, which started to be developed in 2003 and has been actively used by the Turkish Air Force Command since 2007, has long played a critical role in air operations planning. The system does not only serve fighter aircraft; it also meets the mission planning and post-mission analysis needs of different aerial platforms such as training aircraft, cargo aircraft, and airborne early warning and control aircraft.

The national Mission Planning Software combines many capabilities under a single structure, including Geographic Information System support, route and navigation planning, flight performance calculations, threat and risk analysis, ammunition attack planning, mission rehearsal, data loading and downloading, and post-mission analysis. The ability to use air tasking orders, airspace information, meteorological data, NOTAMs and intelligence data during mission planning further increases the operational value of the system.

The ÖZGÜR Project stands out as one of the most important steps in Türkiye’s goal of reducing foreign dependence in the defense industry. Within the project, F-16 aircraft are being upgraded not only with structural improvements, but also with national avionics capabilities and indigenous ammunition integrations. In this way, the aircraft are expected to continue serving the Turkish Air Force as modernized platforms supported by advanced mission systems and national solutions.

The completion of the acceptance process for the Mission Planning Software under the ÖZGÜR Project is also of critical importance for the effective use of national ammunition. Within the project, mission planning software for national smart munitions such as TEBER was developed, while the integration of HGK, KGK, SOM and TOLUN munitions into the system was successfully completed. These integrations increase the ability of F-16 aircraft to conduct missions with indigenous munitions while strengthening national software independence in operational planning processes.

HAVELSAN’s mission planning capabilities are not limited to F-16 modernization. The same infrastructure continues to be expanded for national aerial platforms such as HÜRKUŞ, HÜRJET and KAAN, as well as various ammunition systems. This shows that Türkiye has adopted a holistic approach in its national aviation ecosystem by developing software, avionics, ammunition and platform integration together. The national mission planning support provided to ÖZGÜR-modernized F-16s is considered an important milestone in the digital transformation of the Turkish defense industry and the localization of air power capabilities.