Turkey Unveils Plans to Construct Massive 60,000-Ton Aircraft Carrier

In a move signifying its aspirations for heightened naval power, Turkey has unveiled plans to construct its first domestically-built aircraft carrier. This ambitious program, announced by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in February 2024, aims to not only bolster Turkey's naval capabilities but also potentially surpass India's current carrier program in terms of size.

The new carrier, whose technical specifications were recently presented by the Istanbul Naval Shipyard, will boast an impressive length of 285 meters and a displacement of 60,000 tons. While details are still emerging, the project emphasizes self-reliance, with Turkey aiming to design and construct the carrier entirely in-house.

Focus on Size: This focus on size is significant, as India's sole operational carrier, INS Vikramaditya, has a displacement of around 45,000 tons. Should Turkey successfully execute its plans, the new carrier would be demonstrably larger than its Indian counterpart.

Beyond Size: The specifics unveiled also showcase Turkey's vision for the carrier's operational capabilities. A STOBAR (Short Take-Off But Arrested Recovery) system is planned, along with an eventual domestically developed catapult system. The initial airwing is expected to comprise 50 aircraft, including domestically produced Hurjet light attack aircraft and potentially navalized drones. Defensive systems will include a 32-cell vertical launch system and close-in weapon systems.

Challenges and Considerations: This ambitious project undoubtedly faces challenges. Building a functional aircraft carrier is a complex undertaking requiring significant technological expertise and resources. Additionally, integrating novel aircraft onboard will necessitate rigorous testing and training.

Expert Commentary: Analysts caution against solely focusing on size comparison. While surpassing India's carrier in physical dimensions is noteworthy, operational effectiveness will ultimately depend on factors like crew training, embarked airwing capabilities, and overall integration with the broader Turkish navy.

Turkey's aircraft carrier program represents a significant step forward in its quest for a more robust navy. The successful development and deployment of this vessel would undoubtedly solidify Turkey's position as a major regional naval power.

However, the international community will be keenly observing whether Turkey can navigate the technical hurdles and translate its ambitious plans into a truly operational and impactful carrier force.

 

[Abhinay Singh 48]

just political gimmick

 

[Taus Melek]

While Indian military leaders take baby step, others take giant leaps. Time to start thinking and dreaming big before it’s too late

 

[Pad UwU]

Competition is not bad because the majority of European countries especially Asia Minor Turkiye is preparing for world war 3😹🔥🔥🔥🔥

 

[sanjiv]

The delay in India defence projects like LCA, Aircraft carrier etc. are more due to the mismanagement of khangress than the defence scientists. Look at the growth and achievement of projects after 2014. Also human resource and union issues of defence companies have been solved and they are performing now

 

[Anant]

This is just another vanity project of Erdogan. Even so, we can finally say someone copied one of our designs, since this design is suspiciously similar to Vikrant, and even has the same island. Moreover, the hull dimensions are also mostly proportional to Vikrant's for the displacement difference.

That said, the fact that nations like Tharki are trying to become two-carrier (well, one carrier and one LHD) powers should drive home the point that we need to scale up our defence buils-up and modernisation. The third carrier and the four planned LHDs have to be green-lit, among other items, asap.

That said, Tharki really will have problems actually affording this carrier. Their economy is still in the dump, and if there is some recovery, Erdogan will immediately jump back to his nonsensical *insert-religion-name-here*ic finance ideas. Tharki is doing well in terms of building up it's military, but this is an unnecessary, unaffordable purchase.

 

[Anant]

The delay in India defence projects like LCA, Aircraft carrier etc. are more due to the mismanagement of khangress than the defence scientists. Look at the growth and achievement of projects after 2014. Also human resource and union issues of defence companies have been solved and they are performing now

"Growth and achievement of projects": Um, what projects, exactly? There has been some improvement, but it is quite likely less due to the party in power and more due to the increasing maturity of the Indian defence development establishment.

 

[Ysmir Rewari]

"Growth and achievement of projects": Um, what projects, exactly? There has been some improvement, but it is quite likely less due to the party in power and more due to the increasing maturity of the Indian defence development establishment.

Previous governments had labelled Tejas as a failed project, NDA not only pushed IAF to buy it, but also sanctioned improvements like Mk1 and Mk2, and gave approvals for future developments like AMCA.

 

[Shrujanam Syama]

While Indian military leaders take baby step, others take giant leaps. Time to start thinking and dreaming big before it’s too late

Making useless assembly from imported parts is not giant leap

 

[Pink Panther]

Competition is not bad because the majority of European countries especially Asia Minor Turkiye is preparing for world war 3😹🔥🔥🔥🔥

Except us still dreaming about buying expensive 4th gen foreign aircraft and llosing all the budget for other critical procurements.

 

[Shrujanam Syama]

"Growth and achievement of projects": Um, what projects, exactly? There has been some improvement, but it is quite likely less due to the party in power and more due to the increasing maturity of the Indian defence development establishment.

Astra missile was undergoing ground test from 2003 to 2014! It was amde operational in 2017-18. Brahmos was indigenised to a good extent & can even be fully indigenised except for Russian share. Scorpene submarines were not even allowed to deliver a single submarine despite contract signed in 2004. Now all submarines are delivered (last one in sea trial). Tejas was discarded as failure which is now successful & more variants like TEDBF, Tejas MK2, AMCA are launched. Akash SAM was perfected, MRSAM, LRSAM (Barak-8 derivative) indigenisation going well, BMD developed for upto MRBM range

 

[For_A_Better_Bharat]

I may be wrong, but what are they going to do with the AC? Do they really need it? Their inflation rates have sky-rocketed to ~65%. Cherry on the cake, they are going to operate Hürjet on it.

The middle East is going to see a leadership race with Iran using its proxies (against Israel) to gain popularity, Saudi going the America-way, and Tharki getting its hands on some of the top of the notch technology.

 

[Mango_Indian]

What happened to our IAC-2...been over 2 years our Defence Minsiter had announced that "hum ne IAC-2 ka kaam prarambh kar diya hai"...

 

[ryan]

just political gimmick

Absolutely. Another in the line Just like their Flying Toy "5th gen fighter" .

 

[Gajanan Rao]

Size does not matter. It's the will power

 

[Sudha]

Making useless assembly from imported parts is not giant leap

It is a giant step for turkey 🤣😂

 

[Sudha]

Size does not matter. It's the will power

Will power for what? Bankruptcy?

 

[desigandu]

This is just another vanity project of Erdogan. Even so, we can finally say someone copied one of our designs, since this design is suspiciously similar to Vikrant, and even has the same island. Moreover, the hull dimensions are also mostly proportional to Vikrant's for the displacement difference.

That said, the fact that nations like Tharki are trying to become two-carrier (well, one carrier and one LHD) powers should drive home the point that we need to scale up our defence buils-up and modernisation. The third carrier and the four planned LHDs have to be green-lit, among other items, asap.

That said, Tharki really will have problems actually affording this carrier. Their economy is still in the dump, and if there is some recovery, Erdogan will immediately jump back to his nonsensical *insert-religion-name-here*ic finance ideas. Tharki is doing well in terms of building up it's military, but this is an unnecessary, unaffordable purchase.

We really need to start building IAC-2 and 4 LPDs….

 

[Anant]

Previous governments had labelled Tejas as a failed project, NDA not only pushed IAF to buy it, but also sanctioned improvements like Mk1 and Mk2, and gave approvals for future developments like AMCA.

1. The Tejas was never labelled as a failed fighter. The only problem there is that repeated changes and delays meant the testing and LSP phase took an exceptionally long amount of time.

2. The IAF had always planned to buy the Tejas. The NDA government emphasised local purchases through the DPP rules and indigenisation lists, but the IAF was going to purchase the Tejas regardless.

3. The Mk1A (and not the Mk 1, which you mentioned) was sanctioned because of the fact that the Tejas Mk 1 was considered somewhat dated by the 2010s. It was sanctioned during NDA-1, but the requirement was from the IAF.

4. The Tejas Mk 2 was authorised in 2009-10, with the PDR in 2014-15, and start of metal cutting in 2021. Again, sanctioned under UPA-2.

5. Coming to AMCA, you do realise that fighters are complex machines, and you can't just give an approval at any random time, right? AMCA received an approval recently because it took that long gor the project to reach that level of maturity.

See, NDA has been better for defence development in India in many ways, including bring about conditions that are seeing a lot of private players and start-ups participate. However, those long-established projects are simply being continued.

 

[Anant]

We really need to start building IAC-2 and 4 LPDs….

Sir, I would say we need 4 LHDs rather than LPDs. More expensive, but far more versatile, and (theoretically), a LHD could take a lightened Tejas N, though the details would have to be worked out in detail.

 

[Anant]

I may be wrong, but what are they going to do with the AC? Do they really need it? Their inflation rates have sky-rocketed to ~65%. Cherry on the cake, they are going to operate Hürjet on it.

The middle East is going to see a leadership race with Iran using its proxies (against Israel) to gain popularity, Saudi going the America-way, and Tharki getting its hands on some of the top of the notch technology.

You aren't wrong. They have no strategic need for a carrier. In fact, if they instead invested that money on 2-3 sister ships to the Anadolu, they would be far better off.

This is just Erdogan pandering to his ego and his Islamic hardliners supporters about his dream to reinstate the Ottoman Empire. The only problem with that is that Tharki's economy is in the dumps, and unless something is done quickly, recovery will be ever-more painful.

 

[Anant]

Astra missile was undergoing ground test from 2003 to 2014! It was amde operational in 2017-18. Brahmos was indigenised to a good extent & can even be fully indigenised except for Russian share. Scorpene submarines were not even allowed to deliver a single submarine despite contract signed in 2004. Now all submarines are delivered (last one in sea trial). Tejas was discarded as failure which is now successful & more variants like TEDBF, Tejas MK2, AMCA are launched. Akash SAM was perfected, MRSAM, LRSAM (Barak-8 derivative) indigenisation going well, BMD developed for upto MRBM range

Not exactly. Here are the responses to your various points:

1. The Astra missile had a very protracted, albeit very detailed, testing period that lasted between 2003 and 2015-16, not 2012. Most of that blame goes to DRDO with its trail schedules.

2. Indigenisation of the BrahMos was planned from the early days, though the extent was not as great as it is now. That is thanks to the NDA's focus on indigenous development, so I will agree that the credit for this goes to them.

3. The Kalvari-class submarines weren't being held-up in deliveries. There was no case of MDL not being allowed to deliver the boats (on an alternative note, do you realise how stupid that sounds and would be?). Construction on Kalvari began in 2006-07, but the contract signed in 2005 was missing a lot of specifics, and negotiations for those components took longer, meaning the submarine was only launched in 2015. Can't exactly blame UPA for those delays. It was a fault of the contract negotiators and MDL.

4. The Tejas was never dismissed as a failure. The IAF always had plans for purchasing the type. What has happened under NDA, however, is that there has been an increased level of trust from the IAF, leading to larger orders. So, partical credit.

5. The Tejas Mk 2 was sanctioned for development in 2009, under UPA-2. AMCA development began as a parallel endeavour to India's participation in the Su-57 program way back in 2010. Only the TEDBF program has its origins in the NDA era. Moreover, aircraft projects don't get approved for production on Day 1. There is a sizeable time difference between the start of a project and its clearing. As such, even though the projects you mentioned got clearance in recent years, they still date back quite a while, except the TEDBF. So again, maybe partial credit.

6. The Akash was deployed operationally in 2009, and had been "perfected" by then. What has happened since is that it has been Improved further, culminating in the recently-tested Akash NG missiles. Development of the Barak 8 also dates to the early 2000s, with first tests in 2010. The Barak 8 has also seen a decent level of indigenisation except the first set of orders. Even the BMD program dates back to the NDA government under Sh. Vajpayee rather than more recent governments. See, the thing with defence development is that it takes years and doesn't happen overnight. That said, the NDA government has a lot of things that have happened in their time (IAC-2, Project 75I, Arjun Mk 2 and FMBT development, indigenous artillery development, etc.). They have also, to their great credit, opened up India's defence industry quite substantially to the private sector. However, in order to see the main effects and results of this, we will have to wait another decade.

 

[desigandu]

Sir, I would say we need 4 LHDs rather than LPDs. More expensive, but far more versatile, and (theoretically), a LHD could take a lightened Tejas N, though the details would have to be worked out in detail.

Agree, but I don't see a Naval Tejas or TEDBF (VTOL) anytime soon...maybe we thinking of getting the F-35B/Cs for our big nuclear carriers and LHDs...say we get 4 LHDs (Juan Carlos Class) by 2035, we will need about 36-48 planes in F-35Bs type configuration or a variant of TEDBF...TEDBF is required if we get IAC-2 by 2032 and then IAC-3/4 by 2035/2040...

 

[Shrujanam Syama]

Not exactly. Here are the responses to your various points:

1. The Astra missile had a very protracted, albeit very detailed, testing period that lasted between 2003 and 2015-16, not 2012. Most of that blame goes to DRDO with its trail schedules.

2. Indigenisation of the BrahMos was planned from the early days, though the extent was not as great as it is now. That is thanks to the NDA's focus on indigenous development, so I will agree that the credit for this goes to them.

3. The Kalvari-class submarines weren't being held-up in deliveries. There was no case of MDL not being allowed to deliver the boats (on an alternative note, do you realise how stupid that sounds and would be?). Construction on Kalvari began in 2006-07, but the contract signed in 2005 was missing a lot of specifics, and negotiations for those components took longer, meaning the submarine was only launched in 2015. Can't exactly blame UPA for those delays. It was a fault of the contract negotiators and MDL.

4. The Tejas was never dismissed as a failure. The IAF always had plans for purchasing the type. What has happened under NDA, however, is that there has been an increased level of trust from the IAF, leading to larger orders. So, partical credit.

5. The Tejas Mk 2 was sanctioned for development in 2009, under UPA-2. AMCA development began as a parallel endeavour to India's participation in the Su-57 program way back in 2010. Only the TEDBF program has its origins in the NDA era. Moreover, aircraft projects don't get approved for production on Day 1. There is a sizeable time difference between the start of a project and its clearing. As such, even though the projects you mentioned got clearance in recent years, they still date back quite a while, except the TEDBF. So again, maybe partial credit.

6. The Akash was deployed operationally in 2009, and had been "perfected" by then. What has happened since is that it has been Improved further, culminating in the recently-tested Akash NG missiles. Development of the Barak 8 also dates to the early 2000s, with first tests in 2010. The Barak 8 has also seen a decent level of indigenisation except the first set of orders. Even the BMD program dates back to the NDA government under Sh. Vajpayee rather than more recent governments. See, the thing with defence development is that it takes years and doesn't happen overnight. That said, the NDA government has a lot of things that have happened in their time (IAC-2, Project 75I, Arjun Mk 2 and FMBT development, indigenous artillery development, etc.). They have also, to their great credit, opened up India's defence industry quite substantially to the private sector. However, in order to see the main effects and results of this, we will have to wait another decade.

Why would you blame DRDO for Astra? Every DRDO action requires sanction by central govt. UPA was intentionally holding back.

Even Kalvari was delayed due to USA holding back funds. There was no fault of MDI or negotiator as French were set to do most of the work. So, no delay from MDI was even possible

As for Tejas Mk2 & AMCA, yes they were sanctioned in 2010 but the fun fact is that they would regularly change aerodynamic designs of Tejas MK2 & AMCA for 7 years and thereby no actually go into any detailed work. It was only after 2017-18 that it became more serious and internal work and design started. They were sanctioned only as a pretension to slow to down Tejas Mk1. It is common sense that without actual feedback and flight data, it is impossible to develop any planes. So, making Tejas Mk1 as tech demonstrator was always critical which was intentionally sabotaged.

 

[Anant]

Why would you blame DRDO for Astra? Every DRDO action requires sanction by central govt. UPA was intentionally holding back.

Even Kalvari was delayed due to USA holding back funds. There was no fault of MDI or negotiator as French were set to do most of the work. So, no delay from MDI was even possible

As for Tejas Mk2 & AMCA, yes they were sanctioned in 2010 but the fun fact is that they would regularly change aerodynamic designs of Tejas MK2 & AMCA for 7 years and thereby no actually go into any detailed work. It was only after 2017-18 that it became more serious and internal work and design started. They were sanctioned only as a pretension to slow to down Tejas Mk1. It is common sense that without actual feedback and flight data, it is impossible to develop any planes. So, making Tejas Mk1 as tech demonstrator was always critical which was intentionally sabotaged.

DRDO can be blamed for Astra rather than the government because the money for Astra was released on time (2004). It was the delayed testing schedules that caused such great delays in the Astra.

Money for the Kalvari-class wasn't necessarily held back. Unless you have defininitive proof or sources for the same, that claim is nonsensical. Moreover, the delays in the Kalvari-class, as covered by the MDL investor transcripts, was due to post-contract negotiations for certain parts and accidents.

Regarding the Tejas Mk 2 and AMCA, designs changed over the years, because that is how preliminary design work works (pardon the pun). As for your claims about them being cleared to slow down the Tejas Mk 1, again, either show your proof or evidence, or just don't make nonsensical statements.