Turkey Confirms Start of Construction of 300-Meter Aircraft Carrier

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and naval commanders have confirmed the start of construction of a 300-meter aircraft carrier. Erdoğan also stated that Turkish shipyards are currently building 39 warships simultaneously.

Clash Report announced this.

Speaking on December 20, 2025, Erdoğan and the commander of the Turkish Navy outlined a roadmap for fleet development that includes a national aircraft carrier, destroyers, submarines, and patrol vessels. They noted that Turkish shipyards are now working on 39 warship hulls simultaneously.

Erdoğan shared that construction of the 300-meter aircraft carrier has begun, noting that it will be larger than the Anadolu amphibious assault ship.

A steel-cutting ceremony marking the start of construction of the MUGEM aircraft carrier took place in January 2025. Since then, however, the ship’s design has been significantly revised.

The carrier was initially planned to have a displacement of 65,000 tonnes and a length of 285 meters. The project was later expanded to 300 meters, making it significantly larger than France’s 261-meter Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier, with a displacement of about 42,000 tonnes, and even longer than the UK’s 280-meter Queen Elizabeth-class carriers, which displace around 65,000 tonnes.

At this length, the future carrier, developed by Turkey in cooperation with Spanish shipbuilder Navantia, approaches the size of US nuclear-powered aircraft carriers. The largest of them, the USS Gerald R. Ford, is 337 meters long and has a displacement of about 100,000 tonnes.

Although technical specifications have not been disclosed, the announcement formally moves the aircraft carrier from the concept phase into construction and places it alongside other major surface combatant programs already underway.

The navy commander also confirmed that construction of the national aircraft carrier is proceeding in parallel with work on the TF-2000 national destroyer program and Turkey’s first domestically built submarine, ATILAY.

Surface shipbuilding also includes smaller platforms, including 10 Hisar-class offshore patrol vessels.

The first of these ships has already been delivered to the navy, with four more under construction. As of December 20, 2025, work has started on an additional four vessels.

Erdoğan said Turkey ranks 11th globally in defense exports, with revenues exceeding $8.6 billion as of the morning of December 20, 2025. The government has set a target of $11 billion in defense exports by 2028.