An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft. Typically, it is the capital ship of a fleet, as it allows a naval force to project air power worldwide without depending on local bases for staging aircraft operations. Carriers have evolved since their inception in the early twentieth century from wooden vessels used to deploy balloons to nuclear-powered warships that carry numerous fighters, strike aircraft, helicopters, and other types of aircraft. While heavier aircraft such as fixed-wing gunships and bombers have been launched from aircraft carriers, these aircraft have not landed on a carrier. By its diplomatic and tactical power, its mobility, its autonomy and the variety of its means, the aircraft carrier is often the centerpiece of modern combat fleets. Tactically or even strategically, it replaced the battleship in the role of flagship of a fleet. One of its great advantages is that, by sailing in international waters, it does not interfere with any territorial sovereignty and thus obviates the need for overflight authorizations from third-party countries, reduces the times and transit distances of aircraft and therefore significantly increases the time of availability on the combat zone.
The Turkish Naval Forces, or Turkish Navy, is the naval warfare service branch of the Turkish Armed Forces.
MILGEM project is a national warship program of the Republic of Turkey. Managed by the Turkish Navy, the project aims at developing multipurpose corvettes, frigates and destroyers that can be deployed in a range of missions, including reconnaissance, surveillance, early warning, anti-submarine warfare, surface-to-surface and surface-to-air warfare, and amphibious operations.
The G class is one of the frigate classes of the Turkish Navy. They are extensively modernized versions of ex-Oliver Hazard Perry-class guided-missile frigates of the US Navy, mainly designed for air defense with a weapons configuration that is optimized for general warfare.
The TF-2000-class destroyer is a projected anti-air warfare guided-missile destroyer currently undergoing development by the Turkish Naval Institute. The class will provide survivability in the presence of aerial threat and also support mission functions such as command, control, and communications, reconnaissance, early warning, surface warfare, anti-submarine warfare and electronic warfare. Moreover, once in service, the TF-2000s are slated to be an integral part of Türkiye's expeditionary strike groups centered around the TCG Anadolu LHD and the country's future aircraft carrier(s). The TCG Anadolu is to be followed up by the TCG Trakya light aircraft carrier and President Erdoğan has also hinted at the construction of a larger aircraft carrier that is to be designed in cooperation with Spain. These capital vessels require destroyer escorts to defend them against enemy aircraft, ships and submarines; in other words, the perfect role for the TF-2000s once these new designs are slated for operational service by 2038. On 5 December 2007, Defence Industry Executive Committee approved plans to build six ships of this class. In January 2013, it was announced that Turkey was planning to acquire a total of 8 TF-2000 destroyers, which was confirmed at the International Defence Industry Fair (IDEF) 2021. With the realization of the project, it is intended to improve the anti-air warfare (AAW) capabilities of the Turkish Navy.
Gölcük Naval Shipyard is a naval shipyard of the Turkish Navy within the Gölcük Naval Base on the east coast of the Sea of Marmara in Gölcük, Kocaeli. Established in 1926, the shipyard serves for the building and the maintenance of military vessels. A total of 3,221 personnel are employed at the shipyard stretching over an area of 255,526 m2 (2,750,460 sq ft) with covered structures of 121,466 m2 (1,307,450 sq ft).
TCG Heybeliada is the lead ship of the Ada-class ASW corvettes of the Turkish Navy. Heybeliada was named after Heybeliada Island, where the Turkish Naval High School is located. Heybeliada Island is part of the Prince Islands archipelago in the Sea of Marmara, to the southeast of Istanbul.
Istanbul Naval Shipyard, also known as Pendik Naval Shipyard, is a naval shipyard of the Turkish Navy on the northeastern coast of the Sea of Marmara in Tuzla, Istanbul, Turkey. It is the largest shipbuilding facility in Turkey.
The Ada class is a class of anti-submarine corvettes developed primarily for the Turkish Navy during the first stage of the MILGEM project. The Turkish Navy has commissioned all four Ada-class corvettes.
TCG Anadolu (L-400) is an amphibious assault ship of the Turkish Navy. It is named after the peninsula of Anatolia which forms the majority of the land mass of Turkey. The construction works began on 30 April 2016 at the shipyard of Sedef Shipbuilding Inc. in Istanbul, with the keel being laid on 7 February 2018. TCG Anadolu was commissioned with a ceremony on 10 April 2023.
The Istanbul-class frigates are a group of four multirole frigates currently being constructed for the Turkish Naval Forces. Developed under the MILGEM national warship program as the I-class frigate, the Istanbul class is an enlarged version of the Ada-class anti-submarine corvette, with enhanced endurance and MDAS Vertical Launching System (VLS) for multi-role capability. On 19 January 2017, Turkish Navy held a ceremonial steel cut for the lead ship TCG Istanbul. Istanbul was laid down on 3 July 2017 and launched on 23 January 2021.
TCG Kınalıada (F-514) is the fourth ship of the Ada-class ASW corvettes of the Turkish Navy. Kınalıada was named after Kınalıada Island, a part of the Princes' Islands archipelago in the Sea of Marmara, to the southeast of Istanbul, Turkey.
TCG Burgazada (F-513) is an Ada-class ASW corvette of the Turkish Navy, built as the third combat ship of the MILGEM project. Burgazada was named after Burgazada Island, which is part of the Prince Islands archipelago in the Sea of Marmara, to the southeast of Istanbul.
The Reis-class submarines are a group of six license built submarines based on the Type 214 submarine for the Turkish Navy.
ATMACA (Accipiter) is an all weather, long range, precision strike, anti-ship cruise missile, developed by Turkish missile manufacturer ROKETSAN. The Atmaca will enter service with the Turkish Navy to gradually replace the country's existing inventory of Harpoon missiles.
TCG Barbaros is the lead ship of Barbaros-class frigate of the Turkish Navy.
TCG Salihreis is a Barbaros-class frigate of the Turkish Navy.
TCG Turgutreis is a Yavuz-class frigate of the Turkish Navy.
TCG Yıldırım is a Yavuz-class frigate of the Turkish Navy.
Turkey