All Türkiye’s military ambitions
Turkey thinks big for its fleet and beyond. Giovanni Martinelli's in-depth analysis
In recent days, a couple of pieces of news from Turkey have circulated, apparently unrelated to each other but which, if read carefully, actually present an important connection.
The first of the two dates back to mid-February, when Turkish President Erdogan (pictured) visited the naval design office of the Turkish Navy. The reason for the visit itself was to check the progress in the design of the future aircraft carrier of the Ankara Navy (and other projects) which, just about a month earlier, had seen the definitive green light for its development by the "Turkish Defense Industry Executive Committee", that is, the highest Turkish decision-making body in matters of military procurement.
And so far, it will be said, nothing particularly sensational; if it were not, however, that in one of the ritual "photo opportunities" to celebrate the event, an image appears instead which provides (surprisingly) both the first renderings of the platform in question and the first essential characteristics of the same. Surprise because, while up to that point there had been talk of the project of an "aircraft carrier light” (therefore, with dimensions/characteristics suited to the definition in question), what emerges now is something very different.
Translated into numbers, a unit of 258 meters in length, 68 in maximum width (also considering the flight deck) and a draft of 10 metres; all of this, for a displacement of (well) 60,000 tons. Therefore, very little to do with the aforementioned concept of a light aircraft carrier. And this, also for another reason. That is, the configuration adopted; known from a technical point of view with the acronym STOBAR (Short Take-Off Barrier-Arrested Recovery), it is based on the principle that a conventional take-off and landing aircraft can take off in a normal manner but aided by the presence of the “ski-jump” (a sort of trampoline represented by an inclined ramp), to then land on the aircraft carrier itself thanks to the aid of arresting cables.
In fact, a compromise formula between true light aircraft carriers, which generally rely on the availability of STOVL (Short Take-Off, Vertical Landing) aircraft capable of operating autonomously even without external systems, and the so-called CATOBAR ("Catapult Assisted Take-Off, Barrier-Arrested Recovery) which instead make use of special catapults to help aircraft during take-off. Considered the optimal configuration, the latter, however, is also the most expensive and complex; this is why some countries not yet equipped with adequate technologies and financial resources have resorted to STOBAR.
THE DREAM OF AN AIRCRAFT CARRIER FOR THE TURKISH NAVY
Therefore, if this project comes to fruition (which is not a foregone conclusion), in the end Ankara will also realize its dream; enter the exclusive club of countries which, in fact, have a naval unit suitable for operating fixed-wing piloted aircraft. An exclusive club because to date it only includes 7 countries; 8 soon.
The Turkish one is an objective which, moreover, certainly did not arise today. In fact, the Navy of that country already today has the Anandolu amphibious unit as its flagship, built locally at the Sedef shipyards but based on a Spanish design (that of the similar Juan Carlos I platform) and with assistance from the Navantia group. Well, although never clearly explained, it had always appeared clear to all observers that due to its characteristics, the Anadolu had and has all it takes to become the first Turkish aircraft carrier. A consideration strengthened by the fact that Ankara participated in the F-35 fighter-bomber program which, in fact, is also produced in a STOVL version, suitable to operate on this platform.
How things went, however, is known. Due to Turkey's decision to purchase the S-400 air defense missile system from Russia, the United States has decided to oust it from the F-35 program itself, frustrating any possible plan to further evolve the Anadaolu project.
THE FIRST FLIGHT OF THE KAAN
And it is in this context that the second of the two pieces of news is inserted, namely the first flight of the new Kaan fighter-bomber of (almost exclusively) national design and production. An event that is in some ways historic because, even in this case, it signals not only the progress of the Turkish defense industry but also the fact that the arrival of this aircraft marks the entry into the group of those countries (and they are few) who in the world are able to achieve such a result.
But what then is the relationship between the 2 pieces of news? Simple, from that single image of the future aircraft carrier of the Ankara Navy, on its flight deck you can in fact glimpse the silhouettes of some aircraft parked on it; and those silhouettes clearly recall the Kaan.
Here then is the welding element that closes the circle; the first "real" Turkish aircraft carrier could be equipped with a locally produced aircraft. In this sense, it should be noted that to date there has never been any talk of a naval version of the Kaan; This step is necessary, because a conventional fighter-bomber cannot operate on board similar platforms without having undergone a series of modifications. However, it is equally true that the task is certainly not prohibitive and that the current configuration of this aircraft (especially for its twin-engine formula) seems to lend itself well to the purpose.
In short, beyond the undoubted difficulties that still await the birth (in the first case, that of the aircraft carrier) or the development (in the second case, that of the Kaan), there is no doubt whatsoever that Turkey is continuing its march towards an increasingly leading role on the international scene, also thanks to a good dose of unscrupulousness.
Favored in some way by its geographical position as a hinge between Europe and Asia and central pivot of many crises that have developed on its borders (and even beyond), Ankara has now focused on 2 pillars: the strengthening of its military instrument and the growth (productive and technological) of its defense industry, thus freeing itself from the role of a simple regional power to instead take on one of broader scope.
And there is no doubt that the arrival of this aircraft carrier, in turn equipped with domestically produced fighter-bombers, would become (in fact) the most effective symbol of this true "power policy" of Ankara; which, however, in the meantime, is strengthening its Navy in all its components (surface and underwater). A policy which, not surprisingly, hinges precisely on the sea and even more specifically on a doctrine whose name already explains a lot: "Mavi Vatan" or "Blue Homeland", whose postulate precisely implies obtaining control of the sea ( even aggressively) as a means to impose/extend its influence and to exploit/control its resources.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/smartcity/ambizioni-militari-turchia/ on Fri, 01 Mar 2024 09:22:28 +0000.