the other hand, the procurement of additional helicopters for Anadolu, which is expected to be commissioned in December this year, is also an outstanding. In this context, Turkish Naval Forces initiated the Multi-Role Utility (6, T70), Medium-lift Transport (23, such as TUSAS’ 10t class T925 Utility Helicopter), Airborne Early Warning (3), Attack Helicopter (16, T129B ATAK Mk-I and T929 Mk-II), and New Generation Helicopter Projects (12, to replace AB212 helicopters). The Multi-Role Medium-Lift Transport Helicopter Project and the Airborne Early Warning Helicopter Project continue simultaneously, and it is planned to use the same helicopter platform for both requirements. Since the TUSAS T925 helicopter is not ready yet, an international tender is expected to be opened by the end of 2022, to procure 10 Medium-Lift Transport and 3 Airborne Early Warning (AEW) helicopters as an urgent need. Anadolu consists of 114 blocks, each weighing at least 200t, while the Juan Carlos I consists of 111 blocks: 13,000 tons of high-quality shipbuilding steel plates were used in the construction – 1,000 tons of them made of ballistic steel. While the ballistic steel was procured from abroad, as it was not produced in Turkey at that time, shipbuilding steels were supplied from Erdemir Demir Çelik AS. The keel laying ceremony for Anadolu, which was planned to be temporarily delivered to the Turkish Navy in the 67th month of the contract (T+67 – April 2021), was held on 30 April 2016 at the SEDEF Shipyard in Tuzla, Istanbul, with project activities (T0) having commenced on 18 September 2015. Following the 12-month warranty period, final acceptance for the LHD Anadolu was originally scheduled to be completed in the by T+79 – April 2022. deploy both the Baykar Defence Bayraktar TB-3 UCAV and ship-based UAVs on Anadolu, and to modify the vessel so as to be able to accommodate, operate and support them. Development projects for navalised UCAVs, intended for deployment on and sustainment from Anadolu by the Naval Aviation Group Command, are continuing to progress rapidly. In this context, the Ship-Based Unmanned Aerial Vehicles project (which covers the procurement of 26 fixed- or rotary-wing UAVs in total) has now reached a crucial stage. On From the Bridge MT 3/2022 · 67 Sinan Altinel reports regularly from Turkey for Mönch Group publications. ¸ .
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