The Bayraktar class is a class of landing ship tanks (LSTs) built in Turkey. The two amphibious vessels of the class were built for the Turkish Navy by Anadolu Shipyard (Anadolu Deniz Insaat Kizaklari Sanayi ve Ticaret- ADIK). The LSTs will satisfy the current and future operational requirements of the Turkish Naval Forces Command. The LSTs are primarily intended for amphibious missions and transportation of troops and equipment, while their secondary missions include humanitarian aid, disaster relief, medical assistance and transportation. The LSTs have a ship’s company of 12 officers, 51 petty officers and 66 ratings, as well as 17 officers and 350 marines from the Joint Group Headquarters.
The LSTs incorporate an upper-intermediate-sized monohull design made of steel. Each vessel is designed to meet the sea-keeping and stability requirements of the Turkish Navy, and will have an anticipated service life of 40 years. The ships comply with the IMO MARPOL 73/78 and Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) regulations. The fast amphibious vessels are equipped with significant armament and are capable of carrying large quantities of arms and ammunition, as well as marines in support of amphibious operations. TCG Bayraktar will also serve as a flagship and a logistic support vessel.
The ships of the class can operate in Sea State-5 conditions and can also be operated at Sea State-6 or higher, with limitations. Additionally the vessels will support limitless helicopter operations at Sea State-4 conditions. Each vessel has an overall length of 138.75 metres (455 ft 3 in), a beam of 19.60 metres (64 ft 4 in) and a draught of less than 2 metres (6 ft 7 in) forward and less than 5 metres (16 ft 5 in) aft when fully loaded. The displacement of the vessel is 7,125 long tons (7,239 t) and the load carrying capacity is 1,180 long tons (1,200 t), including a mix of vehicles or cargo on open decks.
The Turkish LSTs are armed with two OTO Melara 40 mm Fast Forty single naval gun mounts, two Mk 15 Phalanx close-in weapon systems (CIWS), and two machine guns on remotely controlled stabilised mounts. The amphibious ships feature a Smart Mk2 3D air/surface search radar, AselFLIR 300D EO director, torpedo countermeasures systems and a laser warning receiver. The sensors and weapons aboard the vessel will be controlled by Genesis CMS.
The vessels are powered by four 2,880 kW (3,860 hp) main diesel engines, driving two controllable pitch propellers through twin shafts. The ships will also integrate a 500 kW (670 hp) bow thruster and four 785 kW (1,053 hp) diesel generators with a power management system (PMS). The propulsion system provides a maximum continuous speed of more than 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph) at full load displacement.
