The USMC were the innovators of the military world in the 20th Century. Can the Turks claim the lead in the 21st?

Selçuk Bayraktar: "SİHA'lar, Dünya'nın da çok beklemediği şekilde bir paradigma değişimine neden oldular. Hatta Dünya'da bu paradigma değimini muharebe sahasında tanıtan ilk ordu, Türk Silahlı Kuvvetleri oldu.

KIZILELMA da yine hava muharebesinde, böyle bir değişimin başlangıcı… pic.twitter.com/sU8iJzeGVv

— SavunmaSanayiST.com (@SavunmaSanayiST) April 9, 2023

Hit the translator button that comes with Tweets, but to make it short and sweet. The Turks are claiming to be innovators with first the Bayraktar (used by Ukraine in their war), and now are claiming the same with a paradigm shift in aerial warfare with this new UAV.

They have a point.

They're about to launch their first LHD with a deck load of these planes and its something we haven't seen before.

If successful then the sky is the limit and their ability to generate combat power will be impressive.

Think about it.  

An LHD that equals a full sized aircraft carrier in aircraft and sortie generation?

If the Commandant had chosen to go down this land then we could still have a capable Ground Combat Element AND had a credible force to contribute to the sea battle.

Just two or three big decks (the two America class and one more with well deck) could make a huge difference and usher in a new era in naval warfare.

But alas, other choices were made.

But back to the Turks.

Ya know what's funny?  We in essence brought this on ourselves by not selling the F-35.  Actually by negating that sale we sped up their homegrown defense industries.

Instead of going to Russia or China, they developed their own stuff and from my chair I'm impressed.

On a geopolitical scale they're a major player in Europe AND the Middle East.

They are in a position to alter the balance of power at a whim.

So interesting.  So very interesting and probably a warning for the future.

Measure twice, cut once.  That goes for the military industrial complex too.