Turkey’s TCG Anadolu Amphibious Assault Ship Starts Sea Acceptance Tests

Sea acceptance tests of the Turkish Navy’s new amphibious assault ship, TCG Anadolu, has started.

“We have started the Sea Acceptance Tests, which is the last phase of the project, on our ANADOLU ship and we are conducting tests for various systems,” Ismail Demir, the head of the Presidency of Defense Industries (SSB) said in a Twitter post on Saturday.

TCG Anadolu is a landing helicopter dock (LHD) type vessel modeled on Spain's LHD Juan Carlos. It was built at the Sedef Shipyard in Istanbul within the scope of the project initiated for the Naval Forces Command.

For its airpower, AH-1W attack helicopters are expected to be deployed initially, before Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI)-made Atak-2 helicopters tailored for naval platforms replace those particular choppers. The warship is also expected to be deployed with unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), a first in its kind.

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FNSS’ ZAHA marine assault vehicle (MAV) will also be deployed onboard the vessel. The 21-personnel-capacity vehicle was designed to facilitate the rapid movement of naval troops to mission locations and allow marines to reach shorelines in the shortest time possible to tackle enemy threats. It is currently in the testing process. It is set to operate like an armored combat vehicle when on land, offering ballistic and mine protection.