On October 2, 2022, in Turkey, at the RMK Marine shipyard in Tuzla (the southern outskirts of the Asian part of Istanbul), the launching ceremony of the F 211 "Hetman Ivan Mazepa" Turkish Ada (MILGEM) corvette, which is under construction for the Ukrainian Navy, took place. This is the first of two ships out of two ordered by Ukraine under a contract dated December 2020. The launching ceremony was attended by Turkish Defense Minister Husi Askar and the head of the Turkish Defense Industry Department Ismail Demir, as well as the First Lady of Ukraine Elena Zelenskaya, who acted as the godmother of the ship.
The lead corvette F 211 "Hetman Ivan Mazepa" of the Turkish Ada (MILGEM) type, which is being built for the Ukrainian Navy at the RMK Marine Turkish shipyard, before launching. Tuzla (Istanbul), 02.10.2022 (c) RMK MarineSimultaneously with the ceremony of launching the Ada-type lead corvette for the Ukrainian Navy, the shipyard hosted the ceremony of the first steel cutting for the construction of the second corvette of the same type ordered by Ukraine.
Recall that on December 14, 2020, in Kiev, the head of the Turkish Defense Industry Department (SSB), Ismail Demir, signed an agreement with the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine on the construction of two (initially, most sources mistakenly reported four or five) corvettes of the Turkish MILGEM project (type Ada) for the Ukrainian Navy. Both corvettes are to be built in Turkey at the RMK Marine shipyard in Tuzla. The main contractor in the construction of corvettes for Ukraine is the Turkish state design company Savunma Teknolojileri Mühendislik ve Ticaret A.Ş. (STM). The cost of the lead ship for Ukraine for 2020 was estimated at about 8 billion hryvnia (about 265 million euros at the then exchange rate) - apparently without taking into account the cost of weapons.
Two or three more corvettes were to be built under license in Ukraine at the Okean plant, which also signed a corresponding agreement with SSB in December 2020. According to Turkish sources, the framework value of the contract with Ukraine was more than $ 1 billion.
The actual construction of the Ada-type lead corvette for Ukraine was started at the RMK Marine shipyard on April 28, 2021, the official laying ceremony of the lead corvette took place there on September 7, 2021. By decree of the President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky on August 18, 2022, the lead corvette was given the name "Hetman Ivan Mazepa". Now, with the participation of Elena Zelenskaya, the ship was launched into the water, and at the launching ceremony, a bottle of champagne did not immediately break on board.
According to the terms of the contract, the lead corvette was to be transferred to Ukraine for completion and completion at the end of 2022, undergo these works at the Okean plant in Nikolev, begin factory sea trials by the end of 2023 and join the Ukrainian Navy in 2024. However, due to the current circumstances of wartime, the implementation of these conditions looks unlikely, and, most likely, the ship will be fully completed and handed over to the Ukrainian fleet in Turkey.
According to previously published data, the MILGEM project corvettes ordered in Turkey for the Ukrainian Navy (Ada type) will be equipped with the Boeing Harpoon Block 2 anti-ship missile system (eight missiles), the MBDA VL MICA short-range anti-aircraft missile system with 16 vertical launchers, the 76-mm Leonardo Super Rapid universal artillery system, 35-mm anti-aircraft the artillery complex (originally supposed to be Rheinmetall Millennium, but the model of the ship demonstrated at the launch ceremony shows the Turkish Aselsan Gokdeniz), two 12.7-mm remotely controlled Aselsan STAMP machine gun launchers and 324-mm torpedo tubes with MU90 anti-submarine torpedoes. The ship must carry a permanent-based helicopter. The MILGEM corvette became the first large warship (total displacement 2,400 tons, length 99.6 meters) of the Turkish project. In fact, the project was developed for the Turkish Navy at one time with the participation of the Mykolaiv State Research and Design Center for Shipbuilding (CPCC, Ukraine). In total, the Turkish Navy planned to have 12 corvettes of this type, but so far only four ships have been authorized and built. The construction of the lead corvette F 511 Heybeliada was carried out at the Turkish Naval shipyard Istanbul Naval Shipyard in Istanbul since January 2007 and the ship was commissioned into the Turkish navy in September 2011. The second corvette F 512 Büyükada was handed over to the Turkish Navy in September 2013, the third corvette F 513 Burgazada - in November 2018, and the fourth corvette F 514 Kınalıada - in September 2019.
In July 2018, the Pakistani Navy signed a contract worth more than $ 2 billion with the Turkish state-owned design company STM for the supply of four MILGEM project corvettes to the Pakistani navy. According to the agreement, the first two corvettes for Pakistan are being built in Istanbul at Istanbul Naval Shipyard with delivery in 2023, and the other two - with Turkish assistance at the Pakistani state shipyard Karachi Shipyard & Engineering Works Ltd. (KSEW) in Karachi with delivery in 2024-2025. The first ship for Pakistan, Babur, was officially laid down in Istanbul on June 4, 2020 (the first steel cutting ceremony took place there on September 29, 2019), and launched on August 15, 2021. The ceremony of the start of construction of the second Khaibar corvette under construction in Turkey for the Pakistan Navy took place at the Istanbul Naval Shipyard on January 23, 2021, the official laying of the second corvette under construction in Istanbul was made on May 1, 2021.
The first steel cutting ceremony for the start of construction of the first Badr corvette of the MILGEM project in Pakistan at the KSEW shipyard in Karachi took place on June 9, 2020, the official laying ceremony on October 25, 2020, and launching on May 20, 2022. The ceremony of the first steel cutting for the second Tariq corvette standing in Pakistan took place there on June 15, 2021, and the laying of the bookmarks on November 5, 2021.
Launching ceremony of the F 211 "Hetman Ivan Mazepa" Turkish Ada (MILGEM) corvette, which is being built for the Ukrainian Navy at the RMK Marine Turkish shipyard. Tuzla (Istanbul), 02.10.2022 (c) TwitterVideo: