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.
