Naval Historywith Dr. Alex

Q&A · 1:15:28-1:17:19

What navies can learn from Türkiye's drone carrier

TCG Anadolu is a useful forced adaptation, but Britain had already considered uncrewed aircraft for its carriers for years.

Drone CarriersQueen Elizabeth Class Aircraft CarriersTCG AnadoluUncrewed Systems
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Question

What can the Royal Navy learn from Türkiye's TCG Anadolu drone carrier?

Short answer

Its forced adaptation is useful to study, although British carrier planning already included uncrewed aviation concepts.

Notes

The panel describes Anadolu as a modified Juan Carlos design whose drone emphasis followed Türkiye's loss of access to the F-35B. Its embarked uncrewed aircraft are worth studying, but the basic ship does not create an entirely new carrier model. British carrier planning had included drones and uncrewed airborne early-warning concepts well before Anadolu entered service. The transferable lesson is how a navy can redirect an existing aviation ship when its intended aircraft becomes unavailable.