The MUGEM-class aircraft carrier is an initiative by the

Turkish Navy The Turkish Naval Forces (), or Turkish Navy (), is the naval warfare service branch of the TAF. The modern naval traditions and customs of the Turkish Navy can be traced back to 10 July 1920, when it was established as the ''Directorate o ...

to build a fully indigenous

aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and hangar facilities for supporting, arming, deploying and recovering carrier-based aircraft, shipborne aircraft. Typically it is the ...

. MUGEM is a Turkish acronym for , meaning "National Aircraft Carrier". The construction of the first MUGEM-class aircraft carrier started on 2 January 2025.

Development

Plans for constructing a large Turkish

were first announced in April 2023 by the

president of Turkey The president of Turkey, officially the president of the Republic of Türkiye (), is the head of state and head of government of Turkey. The president directs the executive branch of the national government and is the commander-in-chief of the ...

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 26 February 1954) is a Turkish politician who is the 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as the 25th prime minister of Turkey, prime minister from 2003 to 2014 as part of the Jus ...

, who held talks with companies from Spain and the United Kingdom on the issue. Contrary to earlier assumptions and news reports by the media, it was later revealed that the future aircraft carrier would not be a larger version of , but a completely new design. On 15 February 2024, the Design and Projects Office of the Turkish Navy announced that it will be a

STOBAR STOBAR ("short take-off but arrested recovery" or "short take-off, barrier-arrested recovery") is a system used for the launch and recovery of aircraft from the deck of an aircraft carrier, combining elements of "short take-off and vertical land ...

aircraft carrier with an

overall length The overall length (OAL) of an ammunition cartridge is a measurement from the base of the brass shell casing to the tip of the bullet, seated into the brass casing. Cartridge overall length, or "COL", is important to safe functioning of reloads i ...

of , beam of , draught of , and

displacement Displacement may refer to: Physical sciences Mathematics and physics *Displacement (geometry), is the difference between the final and initial position of a point trajectory (for instance, the center of mass of a moving object). The actual path ...

of . It is to have a COGAG propulsion system and a maximum speed of more than . In terms of dimensions (length, beam, and draught) it is similar to the of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

, but has a lower displacement. On 25 April 2024, new details were released when press was welcomed at the

Istanbul Naval Shipyard Istanbul Naval Shipyard (), also known as Pendik Naval Shipyard, is a naval shipyard of the Turkish Navy on the northeastern coast of the Sea of Marmara in Tuzla, Istanbul, Turkey. It is the largest shipbuilding facility in Turkey. Right after t ...

. A model of the ship was first shown at the 2024 SAHA EXPO, with further details being released, like propulsion, dimensions, and design elements. The construction of the first MUGEM-class aircraft carrier began on 2 January 2025. The first MUGEM-class aircraft carrier is being built at the Istanbul Naval Shipyard.

Flight deck

MUGEM is being designed in a STOBAR configuration with a modular ski-jump at the bow. The Turkish defence industry is also underway at developing an indigenous catapult system. With the ski-jump being modular by design, this can be removed and the ship could be reconfigured as a

CATOBAR CATOBAR (catapult-assisted take-off but arrested recovery or catapult-assisted take-off barrier arrested recovery) is a system used for the launch and recovery of aircraft from the deck of an aircraft carrier. Under this technique, aircraft laun ...

carrier.

Aircraft

The ship is planned to carry several different types of aircraft, both manned and unmanned. Potential aircraft include: * Bayraktar TB3 *

Bayraktar Kızılelma The Bayraktar Kızılelma (English language, English: ''Red Apple'') is a single-engine, low-observable, carrier-based aircraft, carrier-capable, jet-powered unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV), currently in development by Defense industry of T ...

TAI Anka-3 The Anka-3 is a flying wing type stealth UCAV currently in development by Turkish Aerospace Industries. It is one of two Turkish jet-powered stealth UCAVs developed as part of Project MIUS, along with the Bayraktar Kızılelma. Development an ...

TAI Hürjet The TAI Hürjet (named after Vecihi Hürkuş) is a single-engine, tandem seat, supersonic advanced jet trainer and light combat aircraft, under development by Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI). The first prototype made its first flight on 25 A ...

* TAI TF Kaan

Construction

The construction of the first MUGEM-class aircraft carrier began on 2 January 2025.

Notes

References