Turkiye’s First Aircraft Carrier Taking Shape

Our Bureau - : Oct 23, 2024 - : 3:19 am

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Turkiye’s future aircraft carrier is taking shape. The indigenous aircraft carrier named Mugem is currently in its early stage of development. “The aircraft carrier is in its primary design stage and we expect to finalise the design by 2030,” Lt. Sardar Ali Sari, Design Engineer with the Turkish Naval Forces under the Ministry of National Defence, told Daily News on the sidelines of the SAHA Expo.

Several shipyards including the Istanbul Naval Shipyard have been shortlisted by the government to build the next generation indigenous aircraft carrier.

“The initial plan outlines the deployment of 50 aircraft on the proposed 60,000 ton aircraft carrier, with 20 to be stationed on the deck and 30 housed in the hangar. To build such a huge ship, we need shipyards of that size. The Istanbul Naval Shipyard, which has experience in warship building, is preparing itself to build the aircraft carrier. We will have a final decision on this soon,” Lt. Sari said.

Istanbul Naval Shipyard has built the TCG İstanbul (F-515), the first ship in the Milgem İstif-Class frigate project, which is phase-II of the Milgem Ada-Class corvette project.

“A capacity for 50 aircraft is planned, with 20 to be stationed on the deck and 30 housed in the hangar. Among these aircraft are the naval version of TAI’s Hurjet light attack aircraft, TAI Anka-III unmanned fighter aircraft, Baykar’s Bayraktar Kizilelma unmanned combat aircraft, and TB-3 UCAV.

The combination of manned and unmanned aircraft including Bayraktar TB3, Bayraktar Kizilelma and Anka III will give MUGEM an edge,” he added. The weapon systems include six National 25 mm STOP (stability gun), four Gokdeniz air defence systems, and 4x8 national Vertical Launching System (MIDLAS), engineered by Roketsan.

Aselsan-built Gokdeniz along with 35 mm Airburst Ammunition (ATOM) is a close-in weapon system (CIWS) highly effective against anti-ship missiles. In addition to anti-ship missiles, Gokdeniz is also effective against helicopters, fighters, UAVs and asymmetric surface naval threats.

The aircraft carrier will not receive any support from any international partner or companies in its design and construction.

The new concept is to complement the TCG Anadolu aircraft carrier already built according to the Turkish classification.

Turkiye claims that TCG Anadolu is the world's first warship in its field where the largest and heaviest helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles can land and take off.

The aircraft carrier is set to include two runways. The design is built on the Short Take-Off But Arrested Recovery (STOBAR) principle, as the ship will be conventionally powered with 24 MW x four Combined Gas Turbine and Gas Turbine (COGAG) with a range of 10000 nm at 14 knots. The ship can attain a maximum speed of over 25 knots.

MUGEM is being designed as a 285 m-long aircraft carrier, and can accommodate at least 800 personnel.

“We expect the aircraft carrier to be ready for sea trials in the next 10-12 years ,” Lt Sari said.