Sea acceptance tests have started for Turkey’s multi-purpose amphibious assault ship and flagship-to-be, the TCG Anadolu, the head of the Presidency of Defense Industries (SSB) said Saturday.

Ismail Demir shared the update about the TCG Anadolu, which was built at the Sedef Shipyard in Istanbul within the scope of the project initiated for the Naval Forces Command, on his Twitter account.

Stating that "the countdown has begun," Demir said, "We have started the sea acceptance tests, which is the last stage of the project, on our Anadolu ship, and we are conducting tests for various systems."

"We will further strengthen our presence in the seas with Anadolu, which we will take into inventory after the verification and certification activities," he said.

TCG Anadolu is a landing helicopter dock (LHD) type vessel modeled on Spain's LHD Juan Carlos.

The vessel is set to be equipped with various domestic systems.

For its airpower, AH-1W attack helicopters are expected to be deployed initially, before Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) made Atak-2 helicopters tailored for naval platforms replace those particular choppers.

For land platforms, one of the domestic products that come to the fore is the amphibious assault vehicle, the ZAHA developed by the FNSS.

The 21-personnel-capacity ZAHA marine assault vehicle (MAV) was designed to facilitate the rapid movement of naval troops to mission locations and allow marines to reach shorelines in the shortest time possible to tackle enemy threats. It is currently in the testing process.

The vehicle is set to operate like an armored combat vehicle when on land, offering ballistic and mine protection.

It was initially showcased at the International Defense Industry Fair in Istanbul on May 1, 2019.

Meanwhile, the TCG Anadolu is also expected to be deployed with unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), a first in its kind.