The Turkish "Anadolu" light aircraft carrier and the "Albatross" unmanned boat (front) participated in the "Seawolf 2024" exercise.
On May 18, the second phase of Turkey's "Seawolf 2024" exercise ended. The Turkish Navy Information Office said that as a traditional series of military exercises of the country's navy, the scale of this "sea wolf" exercise reached a new record, with a large time span, wide coverage and a large number of deployed troops and equipment, which demonstrated the modern armament level of the Turkish navy to the outside world.
The second phase of the "Seawolf 2024" exercise was launched on May 7, covering the Black Sea, the Marmara Sea, the Aegean Sea and the eastern Mediterranean Sea. The Turkish military sent more than 100 surface ships, 8 submarines and nearly 100 aircraft to participate in the exercise, with a total force of about 15000 people. The exercises include sea area blockade, sea confrontation and live fire, coordinated land attack, etc. The Turkish Air Force and the Coast Guard send ships and aircraft to participate in training in air support, air sea joint attacks, "gray zone" law enforcement and joint military police operations.
It is reported that the "Seawolf 2024" exercise is divided into three stages. The first phase was held from January 7 to 16 this year, focusing on threat assessment and command post planning, combat readiness level conversion, force projection and deployment, amphibious assault and other contents. The exercise held recently is the second phase of large-scale live exercise of "Seawolf 2024". According to the plan, the Turkish navy will hold the third phase of exercises in the second half of this year, focusing on testing the operational capability of the Turkish navy in a variety of threat environments, as well as its joint operational capability with regional allies. The deputy commander of the exercise, Tirkkan, said that the "Seawolf 2024" exercise was held in stages for the first time, and the capability and efficiency of the Turkish navy could be comprehensively tested and evaluated through the dynamic adjustment scheme in stages.
During the exercise, the Turkish Ministry of Defence also authorized the Navy Command to establish the Mediterranean Joint Operation Command, which is responsible for the dispatch and command of the military forces in the whole region. This is the first time that Turkey has disclosed that it is preparing to establish such a joint operation agency in this direction.
According to the report, Turkey dispatched a large number of elite combat forces during the exercise at this stage. Turkey's first domestic frigate, "Istanbul", made its debut in the exercise, participated in anti submarine, anti ship and air defense exercises, and used shipborne S-band active phased array radar to guide air and other sea forces to strike multiple moving targets at sea. The Turkish navy also used it as a command ship to practice "low, slow and small" target interception.
The Turkish Navy's "Anadolu" light aircraft carrier, carrying more than 10 helicopters and more than 20 unmanned aerial vehicles, participated in the high-profile performance. During the exercise, the carrier based aircraft of the ship took off and landed continuously day and night to carry out the tasks of sea area sealing and battlefield surveillance.
Turkey's "Anka-2" UAV uses domestic MAM-T guided munitions to accurately attack the imaginary enemy's ammunition depot and supply points, and carries out "bee swarm" attacks on naval vessels. The "marlin fish" and "albatross" unmanned boats, which were recently installed, took part in live exercises for the first time, focusing on electronic warfare countermeasures in complex battlefield environments.
The Turkish Marine Corps sent out the "Zaha" amphibious fighting vehicle for beach landing training. The Turkish naval aviation carried out the helicopter vertical replenishment training for submarines for the first time, and carried out large-scale forest fire drills.
Turkey held large-scale naval military exercises in a high profile and invested a large amount of domestic weapons and equipment, which attracted attention from the outside world. The foreign media said that this was a comprehensive demonstration of Turkey's maritime military strength, and also a strong response to the security situation in the surrounding waters, with the intention of highlighting regional influence and establishing the image of a regional military power.
In addition, the concepts of "European defense autonomy" and "war economy" proposed by France and Germany, as well as NATO countries' increasing defense spending and accelerating military construction, have had an impact on Turkey's military construction to a certain extent. It can be seen that the "Seawolf 2024" exercise is a microcosm of the trend of Turkish armaments. (Liu Cheng)
(Editor in charge: Chen Yu, Liu Yuanyuan)
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