TSAMTO, June 24. A ceremony was held at the Istanbul Naval Shipyard in Istanbul on June 20, during which two new Hisar-class warships of the same type were handed over to the Turkish and Romanian Navies.
The event was attended by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Romanian President Nicusor Dan.
The Romanian Navy Command has accepted the ship (261) Contraamiral August Roman (CAm. Roman), which it classifies as a corvette. In turn, the first Hisar-class patrol ship, (P1221) Kochisar, was transferred to the Turkish command.
The corvette transferred to Romania was originally intended for the Turkish Navy.
The Hisar-class ships are designed to perform a wide range of peacetime and wartime tasks, including information gathering, surveillance and reconnaissance, protection of the exclusive economic zone, maritime security, search and rescue operations, and support for humanitarian relief operations.
Contraamiral August Roman was built by ASFAT at the same shipyard as (P1221) Kochisar, and is actually the lead ship of the Hisar class, (P1220) Akhisar. The new corvette is expected to enhance the Romanian Navy's combat capabilities in the Black Sea. Turkish officials stressed that the delivery of the Contraamiral August Roman is the first time that a Turkish-built warship has been exported to a country that is both a member of NATO and the European Union.
After delivery, the Contraamiral August Roman will be equipped with additional equipment and weapons, in accordance with the requirements of the Romanian Armed Forces. The most significant modification will be the installation of Norwegian-made NSM (Naval Strike Missiles) anti-ship missiles.
As reported by CAMTO, in March 2025, the Romanian Supreme Defense Council approved a project to equip the country's Navy with a new light corvette type ship. The Romanian Ministry of National Defense was instructed to initiate the necessary steps to implement this acquisition. The Romanian Parliament approved the acquisition of the Hisar-class ship at a joint meeting of the Chambers on September 8, 2025.
The Romanian Ministry of National Defense has signed a contract with a consortium of Turkish companies ASFAT (Military Factory and Shipyard Management Inc.) for the supply of a light corvette of the Hisar class on December 3, 2025. The cost of the order is 223 million euros. In addition to the corvette itself, the agreement provides for crew training and a logistics support package.
The launching of two Hisar-class ships built for the Turkish Navy, (P1220) Akhisar and (P1221) Kochisar, took place at Istanbul Naval Shipyard in September 2023. In total, 10 patrol ships of the series have been ordered for the Turkish Navy, which will be built on the basis of a modified Ada-class corvette project under the MILGEM (Milli Gemi Projesi) program. The Romanian authorities call the platform a light corvette, since the planned configuration of the ship's armament will differ from that used on the Turkish patrol ship.
Designed to perform various tasks, the Hisar-class ships are built according to the concept of "adapted for equipment, but not equipped", which allows the integration of additional detection and weapons systems at a later stage, in accordance with customer requirements.
The ship is 99.56 m long, 14.42 m wide, and has a displacement of about 2,300 tons. The ships are equipped with a combined power plant CODELOD, develop a maximum speed of 24 knots. The range is 4,500 nautical miles at a speed of 12 knots.
At the time of launching, both Turkish ships were equipped with a 76-mm AU, two DUMV with 12.7-mm machine guns, as well as the Cenk 100-N fire control radar from Aselsan and the Akrep 100-N radar. The design provides for the presence of space and interfaces for the installation of additional weapons systems, including anti-ship missiles, ZAK and anti-submarine missiles.
