After having announced during the month of January that it had begun the local construction of the new MUGEM aircraft carrier, the Turkish Navy recently released the schedules it has planned for the project, with the ambitious goals proposed for the launching, which would take place between 2027 and 2028, proving to be highly interesting. These are plans that were presented by Rear Admiral Recep Erdinc Yetkin, who currently serves as commander of the Istanbul Shipyard, during a live broadcast for Turkish media.
Gathering some of the statements made by Rear Admiral Yetkin himself during the broadcast: “We have begun the construction of the National Aircraft Carrier. It will be 285 meters and 60,000 tons. The Anadolu was 230 meters and 27,000 tons. Our goal is to launch it in 2027–2028, with a planned delivery of five years. We will not wait until 2030.” It is worth noting in relation to this that the mention of the Anadolu ship is not a minor detail, considering that the success of the aggressive program in terms of timelines will be supported to a great extent by the experience gained from its construction and subsequent sea trials.
In line with what was just mentioned, reports from local media indicate that the design teams have prioritized what they called “critical subsystems” and “testing infrastructures,” focusing especially on the development of those elements associated with the aircraft landing and takeoff system from the deck. It is useful to highlight in this regard that the Turkish Navy foresees that the new MUGEM can be used mainly as a deployment point for a growing fleet of drones, one of the hallmarks of the country’s military industry.
Expanding in details, we can mention that the ship’s design has the capacity to operate with up to 50 aircraft, both manned and unmanned, divided between 30 that would be stored below deck and another 20 above it. Among the drones in particular that it could come to operate, as has been pointed out by Turkish analysts and by Rear Admiral Yetkin, we have a list made up of the TAI ANKA III, the Bayraktar KIZILELMA and the UCAV TB-3. In addition, according to graphics previously published about the ship’s capabilities, the possibility was also included that it could deploy the TAI Hurjet light attack aircraft.
Added to these qualities, it was also indicated that the ship would feature a wide range of its own armament to defend itself from different types of threats, both of equivalent level and asymmetric. This translates into the installation of a 32-cell (8×4) MIDLAS vertical launch system (VLS) and four Gökdeniz CIWS systems, the same which would be complemented by half a dozen 25 mm STOP remote weapon systems.
Taking into account the important leap in capabilities that the construction of the ship implies for the institution, and also for the local industrial complex, Rear Admiral Yetkin stated: “When I entered the Navy in the 1990s, I served on ships that had participated in the Second World War, donated to Turkey in 1979, without national systems. In the last 20 years, we have managed to integrate command and control systems, software, all the radar and fire control systems developed with our national capabilities and our own engineering capabilities.”
*Images used for illustrative purposes
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