Similar But Not the Same, 'L 400 TCG ANADOLU vs L 61 JUAN CARLOS I', which one is superior?

Juan Carlos I is a multi-purpose amphibious assault ship-aircraft carrier. in the Spanish Navy (Armada Española). Similar in role to many aircraft carriers, the amphibious landing ship has a ski jump for STOVL operations, and is equipped with the McDonnell Douglas AV-8B Harrier II attack aircraft. The vessel is named in honour of Juan Carlos I, the former King of Spain.

The new vessel plays an important role in the fleet, as a platform that replaces the Newport-class LST Hernán Cortés and Pizarro for supporting the mobility of the Marines and the strategic transport of other ground forces, and acts as a platform for carrier-based aviation replacing the now withdrawn aircraft carrier Príncipe de Asturias.

The vessel has a flight deck of 202 metres (663 ft), with a ski-jump ramp. The ship's flight deck has eight landing spots for Harrier, F-35 Lightning II or medium-sized helicopters, four spots for heavy helicopters of the CH-47 Chinook or V-22 Osprey size.[9] The ship can carry either 30 helicopters or 10/12 McDonnell Douglas AV-8B Harrier II or Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II and 10/12 helicopters, using the light vehicles bay as an additional storage zone.

The ship uses diesel-electric propulsion, simultaneously connecting both diesels and the new technology gas turbine powerplant to a pair of azimuthal pods, for the first time in the Spanish Navy.

The complement of the ship is approximately 900 naval personnel, with equipment and support elements for 1,200 soldiers. Multi-functional garage and hangar space on two levels covers 6,000 m2 (65,000 sq ft), with capacity for 6,000 tonnes load on each level. A stern well deck measuring 69.3 by 16.8 m (227 by 55 ft) can accommodate four LCM-1E landing craft which can beach-deliver non-swimming ground vehicles like tanks and four RHIBs, or one Landing Craft Air Cushion plus Assault Amphibious Vehicles.

Construction of the 231 m (758 ft), 27,000-tonne ship started in May 2005 simultaneously at the Navantia Shipyards The original budget was €360 million but the ship cost €462 million (US$600 million) in the end.

Navantia provided design, technology transfer, equipment and technical assistance to Turkey's Sedef Shipyard for the design and production of TCG Anadolu, a modified Turkish derivative of the Juan Carlos class, classified as a "Light Aircraft Carrier" by Turkish Lloyd. It features local command and control systems, and the combat management system of the ship ADVENT is integrated by HAVELSAN. In December 2013, the Turkish Navy's amphibious assault ship program was estimated to cost €375 million (US$500 million), however the total was near US$ 650 million when the ship entered service.

Originally, the Turkish Navy wanted a slightly shorter flight deck without the forward ski-jump ramp, optimized for helicopter-only use. The navy later opted for a fully equipped flight deck with the ski-jump after deciding to purchase Lockheed Martin F-35B STOVL aircraft. Turkey was a Level 3 partner in the Joint Strike Fighter program and the Turkish Air Force was to get the F-35A CTOL version. On 17 July 2019, the US removed Turkey from the F-35 program for purchasing the Russian S-400 missile system.

The Turkish version is capable of operating up to 10 helicopters on deck in "light aircraft carrier" configuration. The final design's dimensions are: 232 m (761 ft) (length), 32 m (105 ft) (beam), 6.9 m (23 ft) (draught), and 58 m (190 ft) (height). Its displacement is 24,660 metric tons (in "light aircraft carrier" mission configuration) or 27,436 metric tons (in "amphibious landing ship" mission configuration). Its maximum speed is 21.5 knots (39.8 km/h; 24.7 mph) (in "light aircraft carrier" configuration) or 29 knots (54 km/h; 33 mph) (in "amphibious landing ship" configuration).

Its maximum is 9,000 nautical miles (17,000 km; 10,000 mi) when travelling at an economical speed. It has a 5,440 m2 (58,600 sq ft) flight deck and a 990 m2 (10,700 sq ft) aviation hangar which can accommodate either twelve medium-sized helicopters or eight CH-47F Chinook heavy-lift helicopters. When the aviation hangar and the light cargo garage are unified, up to 25 medium-sized helicopters can be carried, or up to twelve helicopters and twelve F-35 fighters. Six more helicopters can be hosted on the flight deck.

The ship has a 1,880 m2 (20,200 sq ft) light cargo garage for TEU containers and 27 Amphibious Assault Vehicles (AAV), a 1,165 m2 (12,540 sq ft) dock which can host four Landing Craft Mechanized (LCM)

[karlgreenkgv]

Thanks for the comparision. It is for sure that the F35 will replace the Harriers, but we haven't signed yet. I hope that in next months the Minister of Defense Margarita Robles should buy 14 F35B and 32 F35A for the spanisj Air Force. It would be 24 f35b because that was the harriers we had at the beginning of the 2000s, but 14 are even more than what the ministry told. Well in fact due to the "antiamericanism" of a part of this govern, 4 years ago they said that we will never buy the F35 because "it wasn't an european solution". Stupid response, but Robles is an intelligent person.