Summary and Key Points: Turkey is constructing a new 60,000-ton aircraft carrier known as MUGEM (expected name: TCG Trakya), set to enter service in the mid-2030s. This new carrier will carry up to 50 aircraft—including Baykar’s famed drones, naval variants of TAI’s Hurjet fighter, Anka-3 stealth drones, and possibly the MMU Kaan fighter.
-While complementing Turkey’s existing amphibious assault ship TCG Anadolu, Trakya enhances Turkey’s power-projection capabilities, maritime security, and humanitarian operations.
-Supported by domestically-produced escort vessels, submarines, and naval drones, Turkey’s expanding naval capability with Trakya positions Ankara strongly within NATO and bolsters its strategic flexibility in a geopolitically complex region.
Turkey’s New Aircraft Carrier: How TCG Trakya Will Change Naval Warfare
Turkey, a NATO ally neighboring many of the world’s geopolitical hotspots, is building a 60,000-ton aircraft carrier (called “MUGEM” for “national aircraft ship”) on which it will deploy the country’s famed drones as well as locally developed fighter-attack aircraft.
A dedicated new aircraft carrier might appear odd for Turkey considering its navy’s flagship, TCG Anadolu (L 400), an amphibious assault ship that national news outlets often call an “aircraft carrier,” only recently began conducting take-off and landing tests with one of the main assets of its air wing, the Baykar TB3 drone. It will be some time before the Anadolu’s air wing is fully operational.
So, the new MUGEM, which is expected to be called “Trakya” in honor of the European part of Turkey (“Anadolu” is the Asian part), might appear like a luxury, but that is hardly the case.
What will MUGEM/Trakya do?
Designed by the Turkish Naval Forces’ Project Design Office, MUGEM/TCG Trakya is expected to enter service in the mid-2030s, and it will share a mission profile comparable to that of the 27,000-ton TCG Anadolu, which was jointly developed with Spain’s Navantia company based on its “Juan Carlos I” plans.
Like her older but smaller sister, the Trakya will safeguard Turkish commercial vessels passing through trouble spots, such as the Red Sea, or make trouble for the civilian and military vessels of countries that antagonize Turkey. While the role of “commerce raider” might not be suitable for an aircraft carrier, Trakya will likely serve as the flagship of such a task force. Humanitarian and peacekeeping operations will also be par for the course.
However, the question is whether the Trakya will carry a marine battalion of several hundred troops along with amphibious landing crafts like the Anadolu.
Trakya will probably not be needed against Turkey’s regional challengers, such as Israel and Iran, or “frenemies” such as Greece or Russia. Ankara has enough ideas and land-based assets (and is producing more of both) to make life more miserable for nearby opponents. Specific to Russia and the Black Sea, the Montreux Convention of 1936 bars the deployment of aircraft carriers in that enclosed body of water.
The Trakya will be an ideal force-projection asset (like the Anadolu)—parking it off the coast of fragile allies such as Libya or Somalia will give Turkey’s (and its friends’) adversaries a moment of pause. Indeed, Trakya is expected to be much stronger on this front than the Anadolu, thanks to its planned air assets and escort ships.
MUGEM’s air assets
Because construction began on the Trakya only recently, many details are unclear. But we know that it is likely to get what Anadolu has for its air wing: Baykar’s TB3 and Kizilelma drones, as well as S-70B Seahawks for anti-submarine warfare and search and rescue operations, along with AH-1W Super Cobras for offensive action—at least until Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) refits its impressive T129 ATAK helicopters or the heavier T929 ATAK-II (still under development) to serve at sea.
Trakya will also get new toys, such as the naval variant of TAI’s Hurjet fighter-attack aircraft and the Anka 3 stealth drone. There are reports among Turkish defense industry circles that a naval variant of MMU Kaan may eventually find its way to the new carrier, although that is unclear.
All told, compared to the 15-20 air units planned for the Anadolu, Trakya is expected to carry as many as 50 rotary and fixed-wing aircraft.
To launch the crewed aircraft, Turkey is considering a “short take-off, barrier-arrested recovery” (STOBAR) configuration for the Trakya in the initial years of the ship’s carrier. However, if a larger aircraft such as Kaan is deployed, Turkey will need a “catapult-assisted take-off, barrier arrested recovery” system (CATOBAR) as found on the aircraft carriers of the Chinese, French, and US navies.
Defend this house: Trakya’s own weapons and escorts
MUGEM/Trakya rises on the shoulders of Turkey’s “national warship project” (MILGEM), which has fielded Ada-class corvettes and I-class frigates and will soon start deploying the TF-2000 anti-air warfare destroyers based on national designs and components, with indigenization rates close to 90%. Not surprisingly, these ships, along with Reis-class submarines and the planned Turkish-made MILDEN (“national submarine”) units, will be the Trakya’s main escorts.
In the past, Turkish warships relied on imported weapons systems such as the OTO Melara autocannon, Seasparrow and Harpoon missiles, and Phalanx CIWS. However, those are about to be replaced with an asset produced by Turkey’s robust military-industrial complex.
Meanwhile, the lessons of modern warfare are not lost on Turkish naval planners. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the Ukrainian military sunk several Russian ships, including the flagship Moskva, using a mix of missiles and aerial and naval drones, and the Turks took note.
Turkish defense firms are rolling out Ulaq, Sancar, and Salvo drones specializing in fleet protection, asymmetric warfare, reconnaissance, surveillance, and demining. Marlin, jointly developed by military electronics giant Aselsan and the privately owned Sefine Shipyard, entered service in 2024.
With a top speed of 35 nautical miles and a range of 1,000 knots, it can carry as many as eight anti-ship missiles and a coterie of other weapons and sensors.
By the time it enters service in the mid-2030s, Turkey’s MUGEM/Trakya will have a lot of toys at its disposal and many friends by its side.
About the Author
Barın Kayaoğlu is an assistant professor at the Institute for Area Studies at the Social Sciences University of Ankara, and an independent analyst and consultant based in Ankara, Türkiye. The opinions expressed in his work and public comments are personal and not shared by his clients, business partners, or relatives. With a Ph.D. in history on US foreign relations and the modern Middle East from The University of Virginia, Kayaoğlu is currently working on his book (based on his doctoral dissertation), “The Global Cold War in Turkey and Iran: U.S. Diplomacy, Authoritarian Development, and Anti-Americanism.” He most recently published the article “Turkey-United States Relations” for the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of American History. You can follow him on www.barinkayaoglu.com, X (Twitter), LinkedIn, YouTube, and Facebook.
