How Many Warships Does Turkey Have? Frigates, Anadolu and MUGEM

The Turkish navy has 16 frigates, four corvettes, 14 submarines and one large amphibious ship, TCG Anadolu, which it uses as a drone carrier. That makes it one of the largest fleets in the Mediterranean. It is also one of the oldest: most of the frigates were built in the 1980s and 1990s, eight of them for the US Navy. Turkey is now replacing them with ships of its own design at a rate few navies in Europe can match.

This guide counts the fleet class by class, then looks at what is being built: seven more frigates, a 149-metre air defence destroyer and a 60,000-tonne aircraft carrier.

How many warships does Turkey have?

Counting frigates, corvettes and the amphibious ship, Turkey has 21 major surface warships. Around them is a large force of missile boats, patrol vessels, minehunters and landing ships.

TCG Anadolu: the drone carrier

TCG Anadolu is the largest warship Turkey has ever operated. It is 232 metres long, displaces 27,436 tonnes and was commissioned in April 2023. The design is Spanish, based on the Juan Carlos I, and the ship was built at the Sedef yard in Istanbul. It has a full-length flight deck with a ski-jump at the bow and a dock at the stern for landing craft.

It was ordered to carry the F-35B, the short take-off version of the American fighter. When Turkey was removed from the F-35 programme in 2019, the navy changed the plan. The air wing is now the Bayraktar TB3, an armed drone with folding wings that first took off from and landed on the ship in November 2024, alongside attack and transport helicopters. The jet-powered Kızılelma is intended to follow. Both are described in our guide to Turkish drones.

Frigates: three old classes and one new

The eight Gabya-class ships are American Oliver Hazard Perry frigates built around 1980 and transferred to Turkey from 1997. The four Barbaros and the remaining three Yavuz ships are German MEKO 200 designs from the late 1980s and 1990s. The Barbaros class is going through a mid-life upgrade with Turkish radars, combat systems and missiles. The lead ship of the older class, TCG Yavuz, left service in September 2026 and is to become a museum.

The replacement is the Istif class, the frigate version of Turkey’s MİLGEM national warship programme. TCG İstanbul was commissioned on 19 January 2024. TCG İzmir is on sea trials, and İzmit, İçel, Akdeniz and Karadeniz have been launched, the last of them on 27 July 2026. Three private yards are building the ships in parallel, each working to a 36-month schedule.

Nearly everything on board is Turkish: the Cenk-S radar, the Advent combat system, the launcher and the weapons. The Atmaca is described in our guide to Turkey’s missiles and the Hisar and Siper families in our guide to Turkish air defence.

Corvettes, missile boats and patrol ships

The four Ada-class corvettes, commissioned between 2011 and 2019, were the first product of MİLGEM. At 2,400 tonnes they are built to hunt submarines in the Aegean and the Black Sea, and the design has been sold to Pakistan and Ukraine. Below them are 17 fast attack craft armed with anti-ship missiles, a type well suited to the islands and narrow waters around Turkey. The Hisar class, whose first ship TCG Koçhisar entered service in 2026, is a cheaper patrol version of the Ada hull that can be fitted with heavier weapons if needed.

TF-2000: the air defence destroyer

Turkey has no ship that can defend a fleet against aircraft and missiles at long range. The TF-2000 is meant to fill that gap. The contract for the first ship was signed with the state-owned builder ASFAT at the IDEF exhibition in July 2025. It will be 149 metres long, with 96 vertical launch cells, an Aselsan phased-array radar and a Turkish 127 mm gun. Steel cutting was scheduled for November 2025, launch for 2028 and delivery for 2030. The navy wants eight.

MUGEM: the aircraft carrier

The most ambitious ship is MUGEM, a carrier under construction at Istanbul Naval Shipyard. At a conference in Britain in May 2026 the navy gave its figures: 285 metres long, 72 metres across the flight deck, 60,000 tonnes and a speed above 26 knots. Aircraft will take off from a 12-degree ski-jump and land with arrester wires. The air wing is put at 52 aircraft, all Turkish: a naval version of the Hürjet trainer, the Kızılelma and Anka-3 jet drones and the TB3.

The navy confirmed 2032 as the delivery date. An earlier estimate from the shipyard put the launch in 2027 or 2028. If the dates hold, most of its air wing will be unmanned, which no carrier in service today can claim.

How strong is the Turkish navy?

In numbers it is one of the largest navies on NATO’s southern flank, and it has more submarines than Italy or France. Its weakness is air defence. Until the first TF-2000 arrives, the fleet depends on American SM-1 and ESSM missiles on the older frigates and on the medium-range Hisar-D on the new ones, none of which reaches much beyond 50 km. Its strength is the shipbuilding behind it. Army Recognition estimates that Turkish yards have 10 to 15 warships under construction for the navy and as many again for export customers that include Pakistan, Ukraine, Malaysia, Indonesia and Romania.

Frequently asked questions

How many warships does Turkey have?

In October 2026 the navy had 16 frigates, 4 corvettes, 14 submarines and the amphibious assault ship TCG Anadolu, plus 17 fast attack craft, 11 mine warfare vessels and 5 tank landing ships.

Does Turkey have an aircraft carrier?

Not a conventional one. TCG Anadolu is an amphibious assault ship used as a drone and helicopter carrier. A 60,000-tonne carrier, MUGEM, is under construction for delivery in 2032.

How many frigates does Turkey have?

Sixteen: one Istif class, four Barbaros, three Yavuz and eight Gabya. Seven more Istif-class ships are on order.

What is the largest ship in the Turkish navy?

TCG Anadolu, at 232 metres and 27,436 tonnes. It was commissioned in April 2023.

Does Turkey have destroyers?

No. The first TF-2000 air defence destroyer was ordered in July 2025 and is planned for delivery in 2030.

Who builds Turkish warships?

Istanbul Naval Shipyard and the state company ASFAT, together with private yards such as Sedef, Anadolu, Sefine and Dearsan. STM manages the frigate programme.