Turkey: Second Anadolu-class landing/drone carrier planned

The dock landing ship ANADOLU - a copy of the Spanish helicopter landing ship JUAN CARLOS I adapted to national requirements - has barely entered service when the Turkish Navy is already negotiating the construction of a second unit with the Spanish state-owned shipyard consortium Navantia. In line with technological progress, it is also to be built according to the plans and with essential supplies from Spain, but again nationally at Turkish shipyards in south-east Istanbul. The Turkish side is always talking about an aircraft carrier. This could have been the case if Turkey had not lost the approval of the USA for the purchase of the F-35B Lightning II jets by flirting with Russian-made air defence systems. Turkey now justifies this upgraded classification with the use of the various Bayraktar combat drones produced in Turkey and successfully deployed in Ukraine. Turkey - itself located like a stationary aircraft carrier between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean - is increasingly developing into a relevant player at the geostrategic interface between the Indian and Atlantic Oceans in terms of its fleet and the production capability of modern weapons systems.