The Turkish Navy's first helicopter aircraft carrier, the "Annadolu", will be completed in the near future, but it does not seem to want to deploy helicopters or vertical/short-range take-off and landing fighters on it, but will completely turn it into a "drone aircraft carrier".
"Annadolu" is based on the "Juan Carlos I" amphibious assault ship of the Navantia Shipyard in Spain, with a displacement of about 27,000 tons. It is planned to be equipped with F-35B. Türkiye originally invested heavily in the F-35 project, and became a development partner very early, and ordered at least 100 prototypes, including the F-35B model with vertical/short take-off and landing.
But Türkiye's agreement to purchase the Russian S-400 surface-to-air missile system in 2017 led to the United States removing Ankara from the F-35 plan. Losing the F-35 rights has led Türkiye to find alternative solutions to realize its aircraft carrier ambitions.
As we all know, Turkey's TB2 drone is called "Toyota in drone ". Although it is slow, has average ammunition load, has no stealth ability, and is easy to be shot down, it is cheap and reliable, and has undergone actual battlefield tests such as Syria , Libyan , Caucasus and Ukraine. Türkiye's drones have had a huge impact in regional conflicts and are occupying an increasingly large global drone export market share .
On this basis, Türkiye plans to transform the helicopter aircraft carrier into a "drone aircraft carrier" and carry dozens of Bayraktar TB3 drones that are still under development. This makes it the first country to plan to completely replace manned aircraft with unmanned systems on aircraft carriers.
Turkish Baykar is developing BayraktarTB3, which is expected to fly for the first time before the end of this year, and has begun system integration with the "Annadolu". According to public information, the TB3 will have a longer wingspan, a folded wing for aircraft carrier operation, and almost twice the payload capacity of TB2.
"Annadolu" will be equipped with an satellite terminal to achieve over-visual control, which significantly increases the combat radius of TB3, far exceeding the combat radius of about 300 kilometers of its land-based model. The TB3 is reportedly able to stay in the air for more than 24 hours with a payload of 280 kg, which may include up to 8 semi-active laser-guided munitions with a range of 18 kilometers.
According to the Director of the Defense Industry Agency Ismail Demir, Anadolu will be able to accommodate up to 80 TB3 drones. Türkiye also plans to equip the "Red Apple" Kızılelma stealth combat drone on the "Annadolu" that has just been conducting ground gliding tests.
For Türkiye, drone aircraft carriers will allow it to obtain cheap long-range force projection capabilities, reduce dependence on land bases, and enhance Turkey’s regional influence in the Middle East, Africa and other regions. For example, Türkiye will choose to deploy "drone carriers" to surrounding waters such as Libya, Somalia, and to perform intelligence collection, battlefield surveillance and close air support missions on weak battlefields.
From this perspective, this does provide a development route for medium-sized powers, and can obtain long-range projection capabilities similar to aircraft carriers, and can avoid the high costs of traditional aircraft carriers. At least 24 countries have ordered Türkiye's TB2. There is no doubt that some countries will also be interested in the concepts of TB3 and drone carriers. Just like the mantra of Turkish President Erdogan, Türkiye does not play other people's games, but subverts and resets the rules of the game.
