Turkey's Anadolu Amphibious Assault Ship Undergoes Sea Tests, Equipped With AH-1W SuperCobra And ZAHA Helicopters

Kapal perang TCG Anadolu (L-400) Turki. (Wikimedia Commons/Sedef Shipyard)

JAKARTA - Turkey's multipurpose amphibious assault ship TCG Anadolu (L-400) has begun sea tests, according to an official from the shipyard working on the project.

Sedef Shipyard Defense Industry Project Manager Selim Buldanoğlu said the construction of the ship, which is set to enhance Turkey's amphibious operations capability, had been completed and sea tests had begun.

The TCG Anadolu (L-400) is a helicopter dock landing type ship (LHD) modeled on the Spanish LHD Juan Carlos. Once added to the inventory, it will inherit the title of the flagship of the Turkish navy.

Ismail Demir, head of the Presidency of Defense Industries (SSB), said in December that the vessel would be added to the inventory by the end of 2022. The vessel would be equipped with various domestic systems.

For its airpower, the AH-1W SuperCobra attack helicopter is targeted to strengthen this ship at an early stage. Before that, Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) made the Atak-2 helicopter designed for naval platforms to replace the helicopter.

As for land forces, one of the domestic products that will strengthen this ship is the amphibious assault vehicle, ZAHA, which was developed by FNSS.

Turkish warship TCG Anadolu (L-400). (Wikimedia Commons/Sedef Tersanesi)

The 21-person ZAHA marine assault vehicle (MAV) is designed to facilitate the rapid movement of naval forces to mission sites and allow marines to reach the shoreline in the shortest possible time, to counter enemy threats.

Currently, ZAHA is in the process of testing. The vehicle is set to operate like an armored fighting vehicle on the ground, offering ballistic and mine protection. The vehicle was initially exhibited at the International Defense Industry Exhibition in Istanbul on May 1.

Not only that, but the warship TCG Anadolu (L-400) is also expected to be the first warship in its class, which is equipped with an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV).

According to the Turkish Defense Industry Target 2022 announced by the SSB, the Bayraktar TB3 unmanned aerial vehicle (UCAV) is being developed by Turkey's drone 'king', Baykar.

This UCAV can take off from ships with short runways. The UCAV will make its first flight in 2022 and is planned to become an LHD as an aircraft carrier.

The Bayraktar TB3, a technical feature announced at the Teknofest 2021 aviation and technology festival, will have a higher payload capacity than the now world-famous Bayraktar TB2, at 280 kilograms (617 pounds) versus 150 kilograms, along with wings that can be folded to save money. space during transportation.

"This ship was planned as a landing craft with a dock. However, once it was understood it was possible to deploy an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) or unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) on the soon-to-be operational Anadolu ship, we started working on this concept", explained Demir last November.