Turkish Naval Forces Commission Four New Naval Platforms
On January 19, the Turkish Naval Forces commissioned four new naval platforms, including the TCG İSTANBUL Frigate, TCG DERYA Maritime Supply and Combat Support Ship, TCG ÜTĞM ARİF EKMEKÇİ Logistics Support Ship, and MARLIN unmanned surface vehicle. The simultaneous delivery of these new strategic assets, considered a historic day for the Turkish Naval Forces, was marked with an elaborate ceremony at the Sefine Shipyard in Yalova. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Minister of National Defense Yaşar Güler, President of Defense Industries Agency Prof. Dr. Haluk Görgün, Naval Forces Commander Admiral Dr. Ercüment Tatlıoğlu, STM General Manager Özgür Güleryüz, Sefine Shipyard Board Member Celal Koloğlu, and other guests attended the event.
In his statement at the delivery ceremony, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said:
“I congratulate our engineers, technicians, and workers who brought the project to life and express my gratitude to them. The secret of these successful projects that make us proud is the increasingly close cooperation and coordination between our institutions. Under the leadership of our Defense Industries Agency, our Naval Forces Command, military and private shipyards, relevant government institutions, universities, the private sector, and SMEs are working harmoniously. I wholeheartedly believe that we will achieve new successes by taking this coordination much further in the coming period.”
Erdoğan also said, “We have reached a localization rate of up to 80 percent in our projects. We not only do the construction and rough workmanship of ships. We can also produce the sensors, payloads, weapons, and ammunition needed in all ships built locally and nationally.”
Turkish Minister of National Defense Yaşar Güler added:
“With these ships, the operational capability and effectiveness of our naval forces will further increase. Likewise, our MARLIN Unmanned Surface Vehicle, like our unmanned aerial vehicles that we use extensively in operations, will make significant contributions to our glorious navy.”
The TCG İSTANBUL (F-515) Frigate
The TCG Istanbul is Turkey’s first domestically produced frigate and the first ship in the MİLGEM İstif (İ) class frigate project, following the MİLGEM ADA Class corvettes. Having completed the ‘ADA Class Corvette’ project, which is the first phase of the MİLGEM program that included the delivery of four corvettes to the Turkish Naval Forces, the Defense Industries Agency (SSB) signed a contract with STM in 2019 for the procurement of the TCG İSTANBUL (F-515) frigate. The ship was launched at the Istanbul Shipyard Command on January 23, 2021, and passed port acceptance tests after completing the ship equipment phase on June 22, 2022. After the port acceptance tests were completed, TCG İSTANBUL went on its first cruise experience on June 20, 2023.
Different from the ADA class corvettes in terms of structure, the TCG İSTANBUL (F-515) frigate, with its anti-submarine surface and air defense warfare capabilities, was designed to carry out tasks such as reconnaissance, surveillance, target detection, identification, recognition, and early warning. The frigates have a displacement of 3,100 tons, a length of 113 meters, and a width of 14.4 meters. Their length has increased by 10 meters over the ADA class due to equipment changes and weapon system additions.
İ Class Frigates are powered by two MTU 20V 4000 M93L diesel engines and one LM2500 gas turbine and have longer endurance and range than ADA Class Corvettes. The İSTANBUL is equipped with advanced domestically developed solutions such as the ATMACA Anti-Ship Missile and MİDLAS Vertical Launch System developed by Roketsan, the Gökdeniz Close-In Weapon System and Cenk-S AESA Radar developed by ASELSAN, and the ADVENT Combat Management System developed by HAVELSAN under the guidance of the Naval Forces Command.
The TCG DERYA Maritime Supply and Combat Support Ship
The construction of the TCG DERYA (A-1590), the Turkish Naval Forces’ second largest ship after the TCG ANADOLU Multi-Purpose Amphibious Assault Ship (LHD), began on July 10, 2018, under an agreement between the Defense Industries Agency (SSB) and Sefine Shipyard. Many local suppliers, including Turkish defense firms such as Aselsan and Havelsan, contributed substantially to the development of the ship’s local subcomponents, which were built by Sefine Shipyard, the main contractor.
The Replenishment at Sea and Combat Support Ship, or DIMDEG for short, has a length of 195 meters, a height of 7.2 meters, a width of 25 meters, and a displacement of 26,000 tons. The ship has a cruising range of 4,500 nautical miles and a top speed of 24 knots thanks to two LM2500 marine gas turbines and two diesel engines developed by General Electric Marine. The ship, which can operate in the open sea for 30 days without refueling, can accommodate a crew of more than 320 personnel and has a helipad for helicopter landing and take-off. The ship is equipped with two ASELSAN-manufactured GÖKDENİZ 35mm double-barreled close-in weapon systems (CIWS) and two ASELSAN STOP 25mm Stabilized Gun Systems for self-defense.
The TCG UTGM ARİF EKMEKÇİ Logistics Support Ship
On February 9, 2021, SSB and STM signed a contract to deliver two Logistics Support Ships to the Naval Forces Command. The first ship in the Logistics Support Ship Project, GÜNGÖR DURMUŞ (A-574), was built by ADA Shipyard and delivered to the Naval Forces Command on December 8, 2021. The second ship of the project, TCG UTGM ARİF EKMEKÇİ (A-575), underwent ship acceptance tests after the flag-raising ceremony on July 5, 2023, and joined the Naval Forces Command inventory on January 19, 2024.
According to STM, these logistics support ships have a length of 106.5 meters and a width of 16.8 meters. The helicopter platform on these ships can accommodate a 15-ton utility helicopter for resupply, and the ship has a crew capacity of 82 personnel. The vessels have a cruise range of 9,500 nautical miles and a speed of 12+ nautical miles. They are also equipped with two 12.7mm ASELSAN STAMP weapon systems. The ships are outfitted with cranes capable of lifting 18 tons and can transport 8 containers, 631 tons of potable water, 336 tons of JP-5 helicopter fuel, and 4,036 tons of F-76 fuel.
The MARLIN USV
MARLIN, an armed unmanned surface vehicle, began to be developed in 2021 in collaboration with ASELSAN and SEFİNE Shipyard under the coordination of the Turkish Defense Industry Agency. The system, which was first showcased at the DIMDEX-2022 International Maritime Fair and Conference held in Doha, Qatar, in March 2022, took part in two NATO exercises held in Portugal in September of that year. MARLIN, which successfully completed many difficult tasks during these exercises, was also praised by military officials from various participating countries.
MARLIN will be used for underwater and surface reconnaissance, surveillance, intelligence, electronic warfare, target detection and identification, support of amphibious operations, and defensive and offensive naval operations in coastal or open waters. MARLIN’s modular design and 4-ton payload capacity allow it to carry a variety of loads such as guided missiles, light torpedoes, 12.7mm guns, electronic attack, electronic support, sonobuoy that extends sonar range, and towed array sonar systems based on operational requirements. The vehicle, which weighs 21 tons, measures 15 meters in length and 3.85 meters in width. The autonomous naval platform, which can maneuver and perform tasks even in a sea state of 5, can operate continuously for 72 hours. MARLIN, named after a fast-moving swordfish known as a “ship sinker” among sailors, has a cruise speed of 10 knots and a top speed of 36+ knots.