Turkey has laid the first of four planned corvettes of a new type for the Ukrainian Naval Forces. The main contractor is the state-owned company STM.
Today, an official ceremony of laying the first MILGEM project corvette for the Ukrainian Navy was held in Istanbul. The commander of the Ukrainian Fleet, Rear Admiral Alexey Neizhpapa, took part in the event. The main contractor was the company STM.
The agreement on the construction of four MILGEM corvettes for the Ukrainian Navy was signed in December 2020. The lead ship will be handed over to Ukraine for completion and completion next year. It should join the Ukrainian Navy in 2024.
The official laying ceremony at the Turkish Naval Shipyard in Istanbul (Istanbul Naval Shipyard)
Image source: Ukrainian Navy and Igor Kopytin
They will build a corvette by the forces of the Turkish side. Its price is about 265 million euros. The remaining three will be built by Ukrainian specialists of the Okean plant.
The MILGEM direction appeared as a national military program of Turkey, which was funded by the country's Navy. The Ada — type corvette developed as part of it is only part of an ambitious initiative. Others relate to the creation of promising frigates.
In total, the Turkish Navy planned to receive 12 corvettes of a new type, but so far they have authorized the construction of only four. The lead ship of the series — TCG Heybeliada (F-511) - was introduced into the fleet in 2011. The fourth corvette was handed over to the Navy in September 2019.
TCG Heybeliada
Image source: wikipedia
It is known that the corvette for the Ukrainian Navy will receive Harpoon anti-ship missiles, the MBDA VL MICA short-range air defense system and the 76-mm Leonardo Super Rapid universal artillery system. In addition, it will be equipped with a 35-mm Rheinmetall Millennium anti-aircraft artillery system, 12.7-mm machine guns from Aselsan and 324-mm torpedo tubes with anti-submarine torpedoes.
The construction of Ada-type corvettes is a key, but not the only ambitious project aimed at re-equipping the Ukrainian Navy. In August, it became known that the Ministry of Defense of the country is working on the issue of completing the lead ship of the project 58250, which can replace the frigate "Hetman Sagaidachny".
Project 58250 ship
Image source: Focus
Ukraine is also actively developing the Neptune anti-ship complex program, which is based on the Soviet-designed X-35 missile. Recently, photos of the complex's cars were shown on the standard Tatra T815 chassis (KrAZ cars were used to place prototypes). The range of the new complex is 300 kilometers.
