Discover how Türkiye’s first aircraft carrier will make drones a key weapon for naval warfare.

On September 28, 2025, Türkiye officially started the construction of its first aircraft carrier, the Milli Uçak Gemisi (MUGEM), with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan performing a symbolic weld at the Teknofest Mavi Vatan aerospace and technology festival. Construction work officially began in January 2025, and the program is scheduled for launch in 2027–2028, with full commissioning expected before 2030. The vessel is being built at the Istanbul Naval Shipyard, and it will be significantly larger than the current Turkish flagship, the TCG Anadolu.
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The MUGEM will initially operate with a Short Take-Off But Arrested Recovery (STOBAR) system, featuring a modular ski-jump ramp at the bow and three runways, two for takeoff and one for landing. (Picture source: X/Turkish Century)

Construction work on the Milli Uçak Gemisi (MUGEM), which in Turkish means National Aircraft Carrier, officially began in January 2025, and the program is scheduled for launch in 2027–2028, with full commissioning expected before 2030. Alongside ship construction, a test flight ramp is already being prepared to enable deck-simulation trials for naval aircraft developed by Baykar and Turkish Aerospace. Vice Admiral Recep Erdinç Yetkin also confirmed the MUGEM's dimensions, with a length of 285 meters, a beam of 72 meters, a draught of 10.1 meters, and a displacement of more than 60,000 tons. The crew is expected to number around 800 personnel, making it significantly larger than the 230-meter, 27,000-ton TCG Anadolu. 

The ship will initially operate with a Short Take-Off But Arrested Recovery (STOBAR) configuration, using a modular ski-jump at the bow and three flight runways, two for takeoff and one for landing. Work is underway on an indigenous catapult system that could later allow conversion to a Catapult Assisted Take-Off But Arrested Recovery (CATOBAR) layout. Plans call for the ship to embark up to 50 aircraft, with 20 positioned on the flight deck and 30 in the hangar. Air assets confirmed for integration include Bayraktar TB3 unmanned aerial vehicles, Kızılelma unmanned combat aircraft, Turkish Aerospace’s Anka-3, and a naval variant of the Hürjet. Future aircraft options may include the TF Kaan fighter, ensuring flexibility for evolving requirements.

Drones aboard MUGEM will play a central role in extending the Turkish Navy’s reach and flexibility at sea. The carrier will combine unmanned and manned aircraft, enabling persistent patrol, surveillance, and strike missions with reduced reliance on crewed sorties. Its STOBAR deck with modular ski-jump will allow flight operations without catapults at first, while a plan exists for an indigenous catapult system to expand capabilities later. Unmanned systems will require fewer resources and limit risks to personnel, making it possible to sustain higher sortie rates and free manned aircraft for more demanding combat roles. With a projected range of 10,000 nautical miles and an air wing capacity of around 50, the carrier will be able to operate from the Mediterranean and Black Sea into the Atlantic without refueling. These assets will support persistent surveillance in contested waters and reduce the risks of high-intensity missions, while domestic combat management and survivability systems are intended to ensure sustainable long-term operations.

Propulsion will be based on a Combined Gas and Gas (COGAG) arrangement with four LM2500 gas turbines, each producing about 23 MW, driving twin shafts. This system will provide speeds exceeding 25 knots, a cruising speed of 14 knots, and an endurance of approximately 10,000 nautical miles, enabling round-trip operations from Türkiye to New York without refueling. Design optimization has yielded improvements in seakeeping, stability, and maneuverability, with a bow form that reduces fuel consumption by around 1.5 percent and lowers underwater acoustic emissions. These hydrodynamic adjustments are expected to improve both efficiency and acoustic discretion during extended deployments.

The ship’s armament will be entirely domestically produced. It will be equipped with a 32-cell MIDLAS vertical launch system capable of firing defensive and offensive missiles, four Gökdeniz close-in weapon systems, and six Aselsan STOP 25 mm remote weapon stations for short-range protection against surface and asymmetric threats. Its sensor suite will include the ÇAFRAD phased-array radar with a reported detection range of up to 750 kilometers, supported by electro-optical surveillance systems. Anti-submarine protection will rely on integrated sonar and underwater countermeasure systems, while electronic warfare capabilities will provide both support and attack functions. Together, these systems will create a layered defense against aerial, surface, and underwater threats.

MUGEM will also incorporate extensive onboard power and survivability systems. The vessel’s electrical generation capacity will be 40 MW, equivalent to powering around 3,000 homes, ensuring reliable support for aviation operations and high-demand combat systems. High-voltage distribution at 6.6 kV will feed major shipboard loads. Crew protection against chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear threats will be provided through an overpressure system that prevents contaminated air from entering compartments. Structural design measures are being applied under a “beka concept,” which reduces radar cross-section with shaping and absorbing materials and strengthens the hull against explosive shock from underwater, surface, and internal detonations.

The program timeline was outlined by naval officials with a clear sequence: initial design revealed in 2024, mockups displayed at SAHA EXPO 2024 and IDEF 2025, steel cutting in January 2025, and first symbolic welding in August 2025. Mega-block construction, distributed among multiple Turkish shipyards, has been adopted to accelerate progress and reduce risk. Domestic content is targeted at more than 80 percent, exceeding the 70 percent level achieved with Anadolu, with contributions from the Turkish Navy’s Design Project Office and major local defense companies. Once in service, MUGEM is planned to operate as the largest vessel in the Turkish Navy, carrying a mixed manned-unmanned air wing and serving as a central component of the Mavi Vatan maritime strategy by extending operational reach from regional waters into distant sea areas.

Additionally, Türkiye’s planned MUGEM sits in the same displacement band as the Chinese Liaoning and Shandong and slightly above Russia’s Admiral Kuznetsov. The MUGEM is planned at 285 m length with a ~60,000 tonne full-load displacement and a proposed air wing of up to 50 aircraft (commonly described as about 20 on deck and 30 in the hangar), operating initially in a STOBAR mode. In the same displacement band, China has Liaoning at about 306.4 m and ~60,900 tonnes full load with an air group roughly around 40 aircraft combining about 24 J-15 fixed wing fighters and multiple helicopters, and Shandong at roughly 305 m and ~60,000–70,000 tonnes with an air wing commonly reported as 40+ aircraft (a larger complement of J-15 fighters plus helicopters). Russia’s Admiral Kuznetsov is just below that band at about 305–306 m and ~58,600 tonnes full load with an original design air group of approximately 33 fixed-wing aircraft plus about 12 helicopters in the planned complement.

Written by Jérôme Brahy

Jérôme Brahy is a defense analyst and documentalist at Army Recognition. He specializes in naval modernization, aviation, drones, armored vehicles, and artillery, with a focus on strategic developments in the United States, China, Russia, Türkiye, and Belgium. His analyses go beyond the facts, providing context, identifying key actors, and explaining why defense news matters on a global scale.