Recently, Turkey has successfully built an aircraft carrier, which has attracted the attention of the global military community. The construction of aircraft carriers has long been considered a difficult and lengthy task, and under normal circumstances, it takes at least 5 to 8 years from construction to launch. However, Turkey completed the construction of an aircraft carrier in only 270 days at an astonishing speed, which is 7 times faster than China! This caused concern and jealousy in Russia. Even more puzzling is the fact that Turkey accomplished this feat without the support of the United States, which raises questions about the origin of Turkish technology.
As a key element in modern warfare, aircraft carriers have always been the object of development of the navies of various countries. However, due to the high complexity and huge cost of aircraft carriers, it is difficult for most countries to afford this behemoth. Britain was once a prime example, investing heavily in the construction of two 60,000-ton aircraft carriers, which ended up being a heavy burden on the country's finances. As a result, while aircraft carriers are critical, the number of countries that have them is decreasing, as many countries find the technology and funding needed to develop and maintain them a huge obstacle.
Turkey, however, became an exception. Turkey, which originated in the Ottoman Empire, has always cherished the desire to restore the glory of its former empire. Fueled by this ambition, Turkey has launched its own aircraft carrier construction program and has made significant progress. According to public information, it took only 9 months for Turkey to successfully develop its first aircraft carrier, named "Anadolu", which is an eye-popping speed.
You must know that the design and construction of aircraft carriers is an extremely complex process, involving high technology, new materials and new processes. This allows the construction period of aircraft carriers to be much longer than that of ordinary warships. Previously, the record for the fastest construction of an aircraft carrier was held by China, but even then it took almost 6 years. Turkey does not consider itself a military-industrial powerhouse, and most of its main military equipment is purchased, so it does wonder whether it has borrowed technology from other countries to complete the construction of aircraft carriers so quickly.
In fact, Turkey's Anadolu aircraft carrier technology is derived from the Spanish Navy's Juan Carlos light aircraft carrier. The two aircraft carriers are identical in shape and displacement. Although the "Anadolu" was originally a purely amphibious assault ship, there was no skid take-off deck, so it carried mainly helicopters. But then, Turkey decided to buy F-35B VTOL fighters, so a skid deck was added to the aircraft carrier.
However, Turkey's previous purchase of Russian S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems provoked a strong resentment from the United States, which led to a setback in its plans to purchase F-35B fighters. Despite this, Turkey has retained the option of using the Anadolu as an amphibious assault ship in the absence of carrier-based aircraft, waiting for carrier-based aircraft to be available at a later date. This flexible decision is a good example for other countries.