Italy urged to emulate Turkey’s ‘armed drone carrier’ project

Italy is being urged to follow in Turkey’s footsteps after Ankara launched a project aimed at transforming its biggest warship, the TCG Anadolu, into the world’s first-ever drone carrier.

An article, posted on prominent Italian defense website Difesaonline, cites a February interview with Turkish head of Defense Industries İsmail Demir, in which he discusses the “unprecedented” project.

"We believe that drones of different sizes, capable of taking off and landing (on a ship) and having assault capabilities, should be deployed aboard the Anadolu," Demir told NTV.

The article then stresses the importance of such a project, urging Rome to “start carrying out experiments” on a drone capable of taking off from Italy’s multi-role offensive warship Trieste.

“Developing a drone that can take off from a naval platform to carry out reconnaissance and combat tasks would allow for the integration of the capabilities of the Naval and Air forces, as well as equip the new amphibious assault unit, Trieste, with an attack vector to support amphibious operations.”

The process of transforming the TCG Anadolu, which was originally designed to be a helicopter carrier, into an assault drone ship will involve deploying 30 to 50 Bayraktar TB3 drones, which will have folding wings, onto the ship.

Bayraktar TB3 models, an upgrade from the TB2 that has proven its capabilities across the Middle East, will thus be able to take off and land using the deck of the TCG Anadolu, according to Demir.

It is said that at least ten Bayraktar TB3 combat drones can be used in operations simultaneously through the command center set to be integrated into the TCG Andadolu.