President Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan attended the ceremony for the launch of “Kınalıada”, the fourth ship of the MİLGEM Program and for the start of the construction of the I-Class “Istanbul” frigate, the fifth vessel of the MİLGEM-S Program.

In addition to President Erdoğan, Turkish Defense Minister Mr. Fikri Işık (Nurettin Canikli was replaced by the Minister of National Defense Fikri Işık on July 19th, 2017), Chief of General Staff General Hulusi Akar, Naval Forces Commander Admiral Bülent Bostanoğlu and numerous guests were present at the ceremony held at Tuzla Shipyard.

Reflecting upon “Heybeliada”, the first national combat corvette constructed within the scope of the MİLGEM project, which has been performing its tasks successfully at sea for 6 years and the second corvette “Büyükada” performing its tasks for 4 years, President Mr. Erdoğan said that the contributions of the related ships to the operational capability of the Turkish Navy prove how accurate the project is. Expressing that Burgazada’s (the 3rd ship launched last year) test activities are being carried out, Mr. Erdoğan said that the 4th ship “Kınalıada” corvette, will be put into service for the Turkish Naval Forces in 2020.

President Mr. Erdoğan: “Local Participation Over 65% in the MİLGEM Project”

Noting that Turkey has made superior strides in military ship and submarine construction, President Mr. Erdoğan said that Turkey is one of the 10 countries in the world that nationally design, build and sustain a battleship, and added: “A domestic participation rate of 65 percent was achieved in the MİLGEM Project which was designed completely on a national scale.”

Stating that the construction and equipping of the vessels were carried out with the participation of more than 50 local institutions, organizations and companies, President Mr. Erdoğan said: “We are also proud that many systems and equipment developed with local facilities are being used with pleasure by our marines. MİLGEM, which is carried out under the leadership of our Undersecretariat for Defense Industries, is an exemplary project that succeeds as the result of the cooperation of public institutions, universities, private sector and SMEs.”

President Mr. Erdoğan stated that the number of projects that are critical for the security of the country will continue to increase and that there are 14 completed projects in the private sector and military shipyards on battleships and 10 more projects to be contracted in upcoming years.

President Mr. Erdoğan said that Turkey has exported 165 ships/boats of various types and sizes to Malaysia, Bahrain, Tanzania, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Egypt, Georgia, Pakistan, Malaysia, Turkmenistan, Nigeria, Norway and Romania up to date, and added: “We should aim to move our country to be in the first place in the world in military shipbuilding sector together with all stakeholders operating in this area by enhancing the domestic participation rate in design and building activities. Even the aircraft carrier projects that are the peak point of this area are not a dream anymore for us.”

In his speech at the ceremony, Admiral Bülent Bostanoğlu, Commander of the Turkish Naval Forces, said: “National projects emerging from the know-how and experience gained from Ada-class corvettes have opened the way for the national development of all surface and underwater platforms having state-of-the-art weapons and systems within the framework of the Naval Forces’ requirements. We will commence the construction of “Istanbul” frigate today, the final product of this development. The Turkish Defense Industry is now in the position to export combat ships in 2017, the 51st year of the process that began with the construction of the “Koçhisar” patrol boat in 1966.”

I-Class “Istanbul” Frigate to be Commissioned in 2021 

The “Kınalıada” corvette, the fourth ship of the Ada-Class corvettes, was built and launched about six months before the contract schedule, due to the experience gained from the first ships of the project. The Ada-Class Corvettes are 99.5 meters in length, beam of 14.4 meters and have 2400 tons displacement and can reach a speed over 29 nautical miles (54 km/h) per hour.

The “I” Class “Istanbul” frigate, designed by the Design Project Office (DPO) as the continuation of the national ship concept, is planned to be commissioned in 2021. I-Class frigates will have a length of 113.2 meters, beam of 14.4 meters  and with a displacement capacity of 3000 tons and capable of reaching speeds over 29 nautical miles (54 km/h) per hour.