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Türkiye's national aircraft carrier will be capable of sailing from Istanbul to New York and back without refueling, covering 10,000 nautical miles, naval engineers revealed Thursday at the National Aircraft Carrier Forum during Teknofest Blue Homeland.
The forum, held at Istanbul Shipyard Command as part of Teknofest Blue Homeland, featured four personnel of the Turkish Naval Forces Command who provided detailed technical specifications of the ambitious naval project.
Engineer Lt. Aykut Demirezen explained the vessel's extraordinary range capabilities during the forum presentation.
"Our national aircraft carrier can currently continue its voyage from here to New York and return without any fuel replenishment. It can realize a voyage over such a long distance," Demirezen stated, emphasizing the strategic importance of the 10,000 nautical mile range requirement.
Demirezen detailed how the team began by determining the configuration of the critical propulsion system, examining main propulsion systems of aircraft carriers serving in world navies, and selecting the most suitable main engine configuration based on speed requirements and range specifications requested by their Movement Directorate.
Engineer Lt. Burhan Savran revealed the carrier's impressive electrical capabilities, explaining the comprehensive power infrastructure designed to support all systems.
"Our national aircraft carrier's installed power is 40 MW. This value is also approximately 3,000 times the electrical power we need in our homes," Savran said.
"Our ship has the capacity to feed 3,000 homes simultaneously based on installed power," he noted.
The engineer emphasized that the carrier operates at a high voltage level of 6,600 volts, necessitated by the high-power systems and equipment aboard. Savran described the sophisticated control and monitoring system consisting of alarms and sensors for electrical and mechanical equipment.
"This system enables remote control of the propulsion system, electrical distribution system, air conditioning and ventilation systems, and monitoring of fault conditions," he explained.
Engineer Lt. Ebubekir Er highlighted the integration of cutting-edge defense systems, particularly the nationally developed CAFRAD radar system, with unprecedented capabilities.
"We implemented the placement of CAFRAD, developed with national capabilities with a 750-kilometer range that is not found on any aircraft carrier," Er stated.
"We implemented the placement of a 32-cell national vertical launch system on the national aircraft carrier that can launch guided missiles to provide the aircraft carrier's layered air defense against all types of aircraft and guided missiles to be launched from aircraft, and can also launch guided missiles for attack purposes," he stated.
Er emphasized the critical importance of 360-degree platform security against air, surface, and asymmetric threats from all directions.
The carrier will feature close air defense systems and close defense weapon systems positioned to eliminate blind sectors.
The naval engineer revealed that Türkiye's carrier will incorporate systems not found on many aircraft carriers in world navies.
"We placed an electronic warfare system on our national aircraft carrier that performs electronic support and electronic attack operations, which are not found on many aircraft carriers used in world navies," Er said.
"We also placed sonar and underwater jamming systems on the aircraft carrier that protect the aircraft carrier against threats that may come from underwater, which are not found on any aircraft carrier," he noted.
Er explained that the team conducts "Ship Air Defence" model analyses to evaluate the effectiveness of all weapons and sensors in various real combat scenarios, identifying weaknesses and making design modifications accordingly.
Demirezen also detailed the chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) defense systems integrated into the carrier's design.
"We enable personnel to perform their duties healthily by keeping the ship above a certain atmospheric pressure against toxic or suffocating gases that may occur in the atmosphere against such attacks," he explained.
Engineer Lt. Yavuz Alp Oguzalp emphasized the importance of the "survivability concept" that distinguishes warships from other vessels, highlighting the need to maintain the ship's stance and strike power in any adverse situation at sea.
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"In the first stage, our ship should not be detected by enemy elements. How do we ensure this? We perform radar cross-section calculations, we take our ship's superstructure weapon placements out of target indication by using radar-absorbing material that reduces this cross-sectional area," Oguzalp explained.
He described the compartmentalization system used within the ship's structure to protect against various types of explosions: "We ensure that our ship has an appropriate structure against underwater explosions, internal, external, and surface explosions."
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