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Turkish AH-1W Helicopters Conduct First NATO Close Air Support Mission from TCG Anadolu in Baltic Exercise.
Turkish AH-1W Super Cobra attack helicopters launched from TCG Anadolu off Germany’s Baltic coast to provide close air support during NATO’s STEADFAST DART 26 amphibious landing at Putlos. The mission marked the first time Turkish naval attack helicopters operated from Anadolu in a NATO exercise, signaling Ankara’s growing expeditionary naval aviation role within the Alliance.
On 18 February 2026, off Germany’s Baltic coast, Turkish AH-1W Super Cobra attack helicopters launched from the amphibious assault ship TCG Anadolu to deliver close air support during NATO’s STEADFAST DART 26 amphibious landing in the Putlos training area. The mission formed part of the exercise’s major maritime phase coordinated by NATO’s Allied Reaction Force under Joint Force Command Brunssum and was further documented by Army Recognition’s coverage of the ZAHA-led landing. This operation marked the first deployment of Turkish naval attack helicopters from Anadolu in a NATO exercise, representing a milestone for Türkiye’s expanding naval aviation capabilities and a clear demonstration of Allied littoral combat power in the Baltic region.
Turkish AH-1W Super Cobra attack helicopters launched from TCG Anadolu off Germany’s Baltic coast to provide close air support during NATO’s STEADFAST DART 26 amphibious landing exercise, marking their first NATO deployment from the ship (Picture source: BTB Concept / Reuters / NATO)
STEADFAST DART 26 is NATO’s flagship live exercise for the newly formed Allied Reaction Force, designed to validate a rapid move of combat power from Southern Europe to the Baltic region by sea, land and air. Around 10,000 personnel, more than 1,500 vehicles and 17 ships were mobilised, with ESPS Castilla embarked as Maritime Component Command and the Turkish Amphibious Task Group centred on TCG Anadolu providing a large share of the amphibious capability. Within this framework, the amphibious demonstration in Putlos was conceived not as a simple show of force, but as a rehearsal of how NATO would retake contested coastal terrain under fire, using integrated unmanned systems, fixed-wing fighters, special operations forces, amphibious armour and rotary-wing close air support.
TCG Anadolu sits at the heart of this architecture. Commissioned in April 2023, the 232-metre drone carrier–amphibious assault ship combines a 5,440 m² flight deck and extensive well-deck and vehicle spaces, allowing it to embark helicopters, unmanned combat aerial vehicles and tracked amphibious assault vehicles in a single package. Official specifications list capacity for up to 30 helicopters or, in a drone-heavy configuration, 30–50 UCAVs, with the S-70B Seahawk and AH-1W Super Cobra identified as its primary rotary-wing types and Bayraktar TB3 and Kızılelma as its dedicated shipborne UCAVs. During STEADFAST DART 26, the mixed air group operated as intended. TB3 sorties initiated the operation with intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions, followed by simulated precision strikes. Meanwhile, Super Cobras assumed the close air support role as Turkish Marines, supported by ZAHA amphibious assault vehicles, crossed the surf and advanced inland under armor.
The path that brought the Super Cobras to Anadolu’s deck runs through a deliberate transfer of firepower to the Turkish Naval Forces. On 21 February 2022, the first four of ten AH-1W Super Cobra attack helicopters from the Turkish Land Forces were formally handed over to the Naval Air Command at Gölcük. Turkish sources underlined that this was the first time attack helicopters entered the Navy’s inventory and that they were earmarked for operations from TCG Anadolu. Subsequent reports indicate that nine aircraft, carrying naval tail codes TCB 80 to TCB 88, now form the core of Türkiye’s sea-based attack helicopter capability, with the full cadre of ten aircraft planned as a temporary strike link for Anadolu until the arrival of the heavier T929 ATAK II in navalised form. The result is that a platform originally procured to support land operations in the 1990s has been reoriented into a maritime role, closing a long-standing gap in Turkish naval aviation.
The AH-1W Super Cobra is well-suited to the demanding littoral close air support profile flown over Putlos. The twin-engine helicopter is powered by two General Electric T700-GE-401 turboshafts, giving a maximum speed of around 190 knots and a typical combat radius of more than 300 nautical miles depending on payload and profile. Its nose turret houses a three-barrel 20 mm M197 cannon with approximately 750 rounds available, allowing crews to deliver short, precise bursts against hardened firing points, light vehicles and infantry positions along a defended shoreline. Four under-wing stations can be loaded with 70 mm Hydra rockets in 7- or 19-shot pods for area suppression, larger 127 mm Zuni rockets, up to eight TOW or AGM-114 Hellfire anti-tank missiles for engaging armoured threats, and AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles for short-range air defence. Coupled with night-vision systems, thermal imaging and a helmet-cueing sight, this armament suite allows Turkish crews to fly low-level ingress routes over water, establish racetrack orbits over the beachhead and deliver controlled fires in close coordination with forward air controllers and amphibious commanders.
According to the NATO Joint Force Command Brunssum report, the amphibious phase opened with a TB3 sortie launched from TCG Anadolu to provide real-time ISR over the objective and cue German Eurofighter aircraft onto simulated targets, demonstrating a shared manned–unmanned kill chain. Once the objective area had been shaped from the air, Spanish special operations forces conducted an underwater insertion to clear mock explosive hazards along the shoreline, while Turkish and Spanish naval SOF fast-roped ashore by helicopter to seize key terrain. At that point the Turkish Amphibious Task Group committed its main landing force: Turkish Marines closed the last nautical miles in high-speed craft, followed by waves of FNSS-built ZAHA amphibious assault vehicles forcing the surf zone under armour. Over this entire sequence, Turkish attack helicopters from Anadolu orbited as armed overwatch, providing close air support to suppress hostile firing points, cover the movement of small boats and ZAHAs and rapidly engage any simulated counter-attack against the forming beachhead.
Army Recognition’s report on the same event stresses that this was the first major NATO deployment of Türkiye’s new ZAHA amphibious vehicle family as part of a multinational task group, and that Turkish attack helicopters delivered close air support precisely as these vehicles emerged from the sea and pushed inland. In doctrinal terms, the combination of ZAHA and AH-1W from a common mother ship gives Türkiye and NATO a coherent ship-to-objective manoeuvre tool: the ZAHAs provide protected mobility and organic firepower from well deck to inland objectives, while the Super Cobras supply a tailored CAS umbrella able to neutralise anti-landing defences, defeat armoured threats and rapidly respond to calls for fire from units advancing beyond the immediate shoreline. In such a scenario, the tracked amphibious vehicles, the attack helicopters and the TB3 drones are not separate assets but a connected system that compresses the sensor-to-shooter chain and keeps the landing force under continuous national and allied air cover.
Beyond the tactical vignette, the operation sends clear strategic messages for both NATO and Türkiye. For the Alliance, the images of a Turkish drone carrier–amphibious ship operating in the Baltic with its own attack helicopters, drones and amphibious armour confirm that a non-US Ally is now fielding a self-contained, high-end amphibious strike package that can deploy from the Eastern Mediterranean to northern waters and plug directly into NATO’s command and control structures. For Türkiye, the same images illustrate the maturity of a broader national effort: indigenous programmes such as ZAHA and TB3, the repurposing of AH-1W helicopters into a naval role and the commissioning of TCG Anadolu as a flagship capable of embarking them all. In the Baltic scenario chosen for STEADFAST DART 26, these capabilities are not simply on display; they are placed under Allied operational control and used to rehearse the defence and, if necessary, liberation of NATO territory.
The presence of Turkish AH-1W Super Cobras providing close air support from TCG Anadolu over a Baltic beachhead crystallises Türkiye’s dual role as both a regional naval power and a committed NATO contributor. By integrating national drones, amphibious assault vehicles and navalised attack helicopters into a single, deployable package that performs under NATO command in a demanding littoral scenario, Türkiye shows that its investment in naval aviation and amphibious forces directly strengthens the Alliance’s ability to respond rapidly and decisively on its eastern flank. For any potential adversary, the message is straightforward: an attack on NATO’s Baltic shores would face not only local defenders, but also a mobile Turkish amphibious strike group able to bring its own helicopters, armour and unmanned systems to the fight in close coordination with Allied air and maritime forces.
Written by Teoman S. Nicanci – Defense Analyst, Army Recognition Group
Teoman S. Nicanci holds degrees in Political Science, Comparative and International Politics, and International Relations and Diplomacy from leading Belgian universities, with research focused on Russian strategic behavior, defense technology, and modern warfare. He is a defense analyst at Army Recognition, specializing in the global defense industry, military armament, and emerging defense technologies.