TCG Anadolu based on the Spanish flagship Juan Carlos I. It is 231 m (758 ft) long, 32 m (100 ft) wide and has a displacement of 27,436 tons. It has a top speed of about 21 knots, a range of 9,000 nautical miles, and can operate for 50 days at sea.
The ship was ordered in 2015, laid down in February 2018 and launched in April 2019. It was scheduled to be commissioned in 2021, but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The TCG Anadolu was originally expected to serve as a similar landing ship, carrying a fleet of short-takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) helicopters and fighter jets, such as the Lockheed Martin F-35B.
However, this possibility diminished in 2019 after the U.S. excluded Turkey from the multinational F-35 fighter jet development program due to Ankara's decision to purchase Russian S-400 missile defense systems.
TCG Anadolu
The TCG Anadolu has been transformed into a helicopter and unmanned aerial vehicle carrier as a result of the redesign. The aircraft wing will mainly consist of Bayraktar TB3 UAVs and Kızılelma attack drones. Both unmanned platforms were developed by the Turkish company Baykar.
As for helicopters, TCG Anadolu will house Turkey's T129 Atak, AH-1W Super Cobra attack helicopters and SH-70B utility helicopters.
Source: Daily Sabah
