Turkey reveals plan for large aircraft carrier

In the early 2000s, Turkey launched a plan to strengthen its navy “in order to increase and protect the rights and interests of the Turkish Republic on the high seas,” as the then Chief of the navy had said.

The aircraft carrier TCG ANADOLU was built with 70% local production and was added to the Turkish Navy’s inventory on 10 April 2023. Then, it was said that after TCG ANADOLU, a new and bigger ship would be produced by Turkey.

On January 3, 2024, during the meeting of the Defence Industry Executive Committee, a decision was made to start the “design phase of the new aircraft carrier” and a Domestic Aircraft Carrier Task Force with 110 personnel was established.

Design:

In the design, which is still in the planning stage, the aircraft carrier is envisaged to have a single island, a jump ramp, two elevators and three jump points, two of which are jets, and a STOBAR (short landing).

For the air wing of the domestic aircraft carrier, DPO is working with Baykar and TAI.

In terms of the announced features, the Turkish vessel is similar in size to the British Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers. For this reason, it will likely accommodate up to 40 aircraft.

Features:

Length: 285 metres
Beam 72 metres
Draft: 10.1 metres
Displacement: 60,000 tons
Speed ​​25 knots
COGAG main propulsion, four gas turbine engines

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