The ground test facility to replicate the deck of the MUGEM aircraft carrier for the takeoff/landing tests of aircraft in development is under construction.
Rear Admiral Recep Erdinç Yetkin -Commander of Istanbul Shipyard- speaking to CNN Türk, stated that the ground-based mock deck for the MUGEM aircraft carrier under construction will be ready for TUSAŞ and Baykar to conduct takeoff/landing tests for naval combat aircraft.
Turkiye’s two leading aerospace firms are developing multiple manned and unmanned aircraft for MUGEM.
TUSAŞ is currently working on a naval HÜRJET variant, which is anticipated to include major design changes to not only have more combat prowess and have ski jump takeoff capability, but also handle the intense loads of landing on an aircraft carrier. Considering the requirement of quick acceleration to takeoff speed, this variant might adopt a more powerful engine than the current F404-GE-104 turbofan.
The stealthy ANKA-III UCAV will also be prepared for MUGEM, which is likely to have a larger wing area and reinforced structure for carrier-based use. The low observability and wide array of munition options place ANKA-III as an important strike asset.
In addition to combat aircraft, navalised configurations of TUSAŞ’s T625 GÖKBEY and T925 utility helicopters might make an appearance.
Baykar, on the other hand, is working on a carrier-capable KIZILELMA unmanned fighter configuration. While KIZILELMA’s layout includes low wing loading (A specification to be looked at for short takeoff/landing), the structure is more than likely to be revisited, like the other aircraft listed. KIZILELMA features low observability, provision for an AESA radar, high agility, and the capability to use air-to-air missiles.
On the other hand, Bayraktar TB3 UCAV has performed more than 100 sorties from the TCG Anadolu LHD (L400), which is arguably more challenging than MUGEM due to the considerably smaller size. Thus, the workload on adapting Bayraktar TB3 for MUGEM could be considered negligible.
