The Turkish Navy received its largest vessel on April 10, during a ceremony attended by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Defence Minister Hulusi Akar and top military officials. The amphibious assault ship TCG Anadolu is Turkey’s first landing platform dock. Erdoğan said the military will deploy heavy helicopters, drones and light-attack aircraft from the vessel.

Its fully loaded displacement is 27,436 tons, and it measures 231 meters (758 feet) in length, 32 meters in width and 58 meters in height.

The ship’s primary purpose is to serve as a platform from which the TB-3 armed drone and the Kizilelma combat UAV can launch. Both aircraft were developed and built by the privately owned Turkish drone maker Baykar.

Erdoğan said that the TCG Anadolu would also help with military and humanitarian operations around the world.

Turkey will be able to conduct military and humanitarian operations all around the world thanks to the ship, which can also carry armored vehicles, the president said.

The ship's weapon, combat management, electronic warfare, infrared search and track, electro-optical search, laser warning, torpedo defense systems, and radars were developed indigenously, he said.

Additionally, it is inclusive of a full-fledged hospital facility and two operating rooms, the president said and added that Türkiye will become a game changer country by developing cutting-edge systems and products.

Turkey intended to fly its future F-35 fighter jets from the ship, but the U.S. removed the country from the multinational Joint Strike Fighter program after Ankara acquired Russian-made S-400 air defense systems.

Turkey has since switched its primary aerial asset on the TCG Anadolu from the F-35 to the Kizilelma.

The vessel cost Ankara more than $1 billion, although officials have declined to reveal the exact price. Turkey will be the third operator of this ship type, after Spain and Australia.

Image courtesy: Defense News