Construction and equipment activities of the first ship ISTANBUL continue in the Class I Frigate Project, of which STM is the main contractor. Along with the image shared by the Ministry of National Defense from the Istanbul Shipyard Command, it was said, "The first ships of their class are side by side for the first time..." and "The construction equipment of the MİLGEM class TCG HEYBELİADA, TCG ISTANBUL and PN BABUR, together with the M/V SAVARONA, which belongs to our Presidency, inherited from Atatürk. and planned maintenance activities continue.” statements were included.
In the "I" Class Frigate project, which continues its activities as a continuation of the MİLGEM concept, the decision of the Defense Industry Executive Committee to design and build the first ship at the Istanbul Shipyard Command was taken on 30 June 2015. The first ship TCG ISTANBUL (F 3) in the first “I” Class frigate project, the first construction activities of which started with a ceremony on 2017 July 515 at the Istanbul Shipyard Command, was launched on 23 January and port acceptance tests in May 2022 and cruise acceptance tests in 2023 January. After completion, it will be delivered to the Naval Forces Command on September 6, 2023.
The naming and side numbers of the 4 Class I Frigates to be built will be as follows:
- TCG Istanbul (F 515),
- TCG Izmir (F 516),
- TCG Izmit (F 517),
- TCG İçel (F 518)
He announced that the Gökdeniz close air defense system, which is a sea-based variant of the Korkut air defense system, and national vertical launch systems will be used on the ISTANBUL frigate. President Erdoğan said, “While the national capacity is 70 percent in corvette class ships, it is very important that we increase this to 75 percent. We will bring our ship, which has early recognition and base defense features, to the Naval Forces in 100, in the 2023th year of our Republic. We will also start using the 3D search and illumination radar developed locally and nationally on this ship. We will also use the national vertical thrust system on this ship.” he said.
BABUR (F-280), the first corvette included in the construction activities of MİLGEM corvettes exported by Turkey to Pakistan, was launched on 15 August 2021. For the development in question, a ceremony was held with the participation of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Pakistani President Arif Alvi.
As it will be remembered, in May 2021, Minister of National Defense Hulusi Akar visited the Istanbul Shipyard Command to inspect the construction works of MİLGEM corvettes exported to Pakistan. According to the information made by the MSB on the said date, the 102nd block of the first MİLGEM ship was placed on the ship.
Within the scope of the project, which is the biggest export breakthrough of the domestic defense industry, two of the 4 MİLGEM corvettes, the main contractor of which is ASFAT under the Ministry of National Defense, are under construction at the Istanbul Shipyard Command and the other two at the Karachi Shipyard.
The first two corvettes will enter the inventory in 2023
Under the agreement signed in September 2018, Pakistan will supply four ships. Two of the ships will be built in Istanbul Shipyard Commandership, and two of them will be built in Karachi, Pakistan. In the first place, a corvette to be built in Istanbul and Karachi will join the Pakistan Navy inventory in 2023. The other 2 ships will enter the inventory in 2024. The production process will take 54 months on the first ship, 60 months on the second ship, 66 months on the third ship, and 72 months on the last ship.
To mention the numbering of MİLGEM class corvettes in the project in question; The 1st and 2nd ships in the project will be built in Turkey, respectively, and the 3rd and 4th ships will be built in Pakistan. However, the order of construction of the ships is different. According to the order of construction, the ships to be built in Turkey are numbered as the 1st and 3rd ships, respectively. The two ships to be built in Pakistan are the 2nd and 4th ships in the order of construction.
Source: defenceturk
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