Two helicopters complete their first landing on Turkish LHD Anadolu.

According to a tweet published by the Turkish MoD on November 23, 2022, two helicopters, AH-1W Super Cobra and SH-70 Sea Hawk completes their first landing on the Turkish LHD TCG Anadolu.
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The US-built helicopters AH-1W Super Cobra and SH-70 Sea Hawk on Turkish Landing Helicopter Dock Anadolu. (Picture source: Turkish MoD)

Anadolu (L-400) is an amphibious assault ship of the Turkish Navy that can be configured as a STOVL aircraft carrier. 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, and is expected to be commissioned in 2022.

The Sedef–Navantia consortium won the tender for the amphibious assault ship project of the Turkish Navy and Anadolu will use the same design as that of the Spanish ship Juan Carlos I.

Navantia will provide design, technology transfer, equipment, and technical assistance to Sedef Shipyard of Turkey for the design and development of Anadolu.

In December 2013, the Turkish LPD/LHD program was originally estimated to cost €375 million ($500 million). According to the original plan, the Turkish Navy wanted a slightly shorter flight deck without the ski-jump ramp in front, to be optimized for use with only helicopters.

However, the Turkish Navy later changed its plan and opted for a fully equipped flight deck with the ski-jump ramp in front, after deciding to purchase F-35B STOVL aircraft.

Turkey was a Level 3 partner in the Joint Strike Fighter program that led to the F-35 Lightning II, and the Turkish Air Force was intending to get the F-35A CTOL version until the U.S. Senate blocked the export of the fighter jet to Turkey due to its purchase of the S-400 missile system from Russia, which is subjected to CAATSA sanctions. Instead of the F-35B STOVL version, in the short term the Turkish Navy will operate domestically-produced UCAVs such as the Bayraktar TB3.

The dimensions of the final design are 231 meters (757 ft 10 in) in length, a 32-meter (105 ft 0 in) beam, a 6.8-meter (22 ft 4 in) draft, and 58 meters (190 ft 3 in) in height.

Its displacement will be 24,660 tons in "STOVL aircraft carrier" mission configuration; or 27,079 tons in "amphibious assault ship" mission configuration.

Its maximum speed will be 21.5 knots (39.8 km/h; 24.7 mph) in "STOVL aircraft carrier" configuration; or 29 knots (54 km/h; 33 mph) in "amphibious assault ship" configuration. Its maximum range will be 9,000 nautical miles (17,000 km; 10,000 mi) at an economical speed.

The ship has a 5,440 m2 (58,600 sq ft) flight deck and a 990 m2 (10,700 sq ft) aviation hangar which can accommodate either 12 medium-sized helicopters or 8 Boeing CH-47F Chinook heavy-lift helicopters. When the aviation hangar and the light cargo garage are unified, the ship can carry up to 25 medium-sized helicopters.

Furthermore, the Baykar Bayraktar Kızılelma unmanned fighter jet is designed in a way that makes it capable to takeoff and land on an amphibious assault ship, such as TCG Anadolu, without any need for a catapult system.

The ship has a 1,880 m2 (20,200 sq ft) light cargo garage for TEU containers and 27 Amphibious Assault Vehicles (AAV); a 1,165 m2 (12,540 sq ft) dock which can host four Landing Craft Mechanized (LCM) or two Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC), or two Landing Craft Vehicle Personnel (LCVP); and a 1,410 m2 (15,200 sq ft) garage for heavy loads, which can host 29 main battle tanks (MBT), Amphibious Assault Vehicles, and TEU containers.

The ship will be protected by the ARAS-2023 diver detection sonar (DDS), and will have a crew consisting of 261 personnel: 30 officers, 49 NCOs, 59 leading seamen, and 123 ratings.

The aircraft is designed in a way that makes it capable to takeoff and land on an amphibious assault ship, such as TCG Anadolu, without any need for a catapult system.