Turkey Goes Shopping For the Big Ship

Turkey is buying a big deck amphibious ship, and like they usually do, they are looking to South Korea to build it. We discussed this a bit last July, when we obtained the specifications desired by the Undersecretariat for Defense Industries. At the time we thought it was pretty clear Turkey would seek the Dokdo class. It appears our assumptions at the time were on the mark.

Defense officials from South Korea and Turkey opened five-day talks over bilateral defense cooperation in Ankara, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) said Tuesday.

High on the agenda is South Korea's cooperation on Turkey's shipbuilding program to develop amphibious large-deck landing ships and tank landing ships, a DAPA official said. Turkey also wants to purchase the South Korean Army's K-10 ammunition re-supply vehicles, he said.

The Dokdo class carries 720 marines, 6 tanks, 10 trucks, 7 AAV's, three field artillery pieces, 10 helicopters, and two LCACs. The Dokdo class is both wider and longer than the SPS Príncipe de Asturias, and can be fitted with a ski jump to support the F-35B.

If Turkey does buy the Dokdo class, it will join Italy, France, and Spain among the Mediterranean Sea nations with modern amphibious aviation vessels. The expeditionary trends for naval forces continues.