The MILDEN national program will help Ankara overcome its dependence on German suppliersTurkish shipbuilders plan to start manufacturing the first locally developed boat in 2025 and complete its construction in 2031.
If the tests are successful, an initial series of six ships will be built over the next decade.
The corresponding project received the designation Milli Denizaltı and the abbreviation MILDEN. Last summer, a desktop model of the promising submarine MILDEN 2022 was shown to journalists of the state news agency Anadolu. They were informed that the conceptual development has been completed and that the preliminary design will begin in September. At this stage, during 2023, the composition and parameters of the main and auxiliary systems of the ship will be clarified.
The production of the MILDEN-class submarines will be carried out by the state shipyard Gölcük Naval Shipyard, which is part of the structure of the Turkish Ministry of Defense. The head of the enterprise, Commodore Mustafa Saygılı, told reporters that the naval command had familiarized itself with the results of preliminary studies on MILDEN-2022 and gave the go-ahead to launch the project.
The Gölcük Naval Shipyard is located on the shore of the Marmara Sea near the town of Gölcük in Kocaeli Province. Submarines based on the German Type 209 project have been assembled here for several decades, and the more progressive Type 214TN model is currently being developed.
Politics and industryThe need to create its own submarine is caused by the cooling of relations between Ankara and Berlin after Recep Tayyip Erdogan came to power.
The once strong ties between German and Turkish industrialists have been damaged by the politicians of the two countries, who did not want to compromise when disputes arise on fundamental issues. Ankara and Berlin have different views on the problems of the Kurdish people, methods of combating illegal armed groups of Islamists in Syria and Iraq, the topic of refugees from the Middle East and much more.
Disagreements between the two capitals reached a high point after the Turkish regular army began to conduct military operations against Kurdish detachments deep in the territory of the Syrian Arab Republic.
Berlin has imposed restrictions on the export of defense industry goods to Turkey. This also affected the components for submarines assembled under a German license in Geldjuk. Ankara has raised a fuss that, they say, European NATO allies do not comply with their obligations and thereby undermine the "bloc solidarity".
For their part, German industrialists were not at all eager to give up their hard-won positions in the Turkish arms market. By joint efforts, German and Turkish supporters of the continuation of the licensed program of underwater shipbuilding managed to defend their position.
The parties settled their differences and returned to constructive interaction. But, as they say, "the sediment remained." Ankara believes that it will be right to gradually reduce dependence on German supplies and technologies. The MILDEN Design Bureau (KBM) was founded at the Gölcük Naval Shipyard under the leadership of Captain Izzet Emre Afacan, who performs the duties of Chief engineer. As of last summer, the KBM team consisted of 28 specialists (23 engineers and 5 designers). They developed the concept of the MILDEN-2022 submarine with a total displacement of about 2,700 tons.
Design characteristicsIn terms of dimension, the MILDEN 2022 is noticeably superior to the Type 214TN (length 80 m versus 65) and is only slightly inferior to the newest Type 218 submarine that Germany is building for Singapore.
These products have a lot in common. In addition to diesel generators, electric motors and batteries, all three of the above-mentioned types of submarines are equipped with an air-independent power plant (VNEU). Its use significantly increases underwater autonomy. If a classic diesel-electric submarine (diesel-electric submarine), built according to the Type 209 project, can move at a speed of 3-4 knots in a submerged state for three days (then it will have to surface to recharge the batteries), then a submarine with a VNEU (specifically Type 218) – up to three weeks.
KBM employees want to equip their ship with ion-lithium batteries. So far, these are used only on the four newest Japanese submarines built in 2020-2023, "Oryu" (ŌRyū), "Toryu" (Tōryū), "Taigei" (Taigei) and "Hakugei" (Hakugei).
It is generally recognized that the classic lead-acid batteries installed on all other non-nuclear submarines in operation are significantly inferior to lithium ones. The only question is that, except for the Japanese, so far no one has managed to create lithium batteries of the required capacity that provide reliable power to all submarine systems. If the Turkish engineers also succeed, then the MILDEN-type submarines will be able to stay submerged much longer than the Type 209 submarines already available to the Turkish fleet.
The working and maximum depths declared by the designers also exceed the corresponding indicators of the equipment of the last generation. And this means that the MILDEN case needs to be made of high-strength steel with better parameters than the American alloy HY-80 used in the Type 209 design and NU-100 in Type 214.
Exhibits of the IDEF 2021 exhibitionThe desire of the Turkish industry to create a technological reserve for promising underwater equipment became known at the IDEF 2021 exhibition.
HAVELSAN has presented a mock-up of the DAPL control center as part of the hull saturation of the next-generation submarine. The layout is made in the conceptual design of CIC "modernity and futurism", using a "realistic-futuristic" approach. It involves special attention to submarine officers. To do this, it is planned to implement a number of innovative solutions in the line of artificial intelligence, human–machine interface, decision support systems, the expanded Internet of Things, autonomous and robotic systems, augmented virtual reality, gesture, touch and voice control. The HAVELSAN control center is a fairly spacious room, in the center of which curved screens with wide viewing angles are installed.
Another private owner of IDEF 2021, the shipbuilding firm Dearsan has exhibited a scale model of a small submarine with a length of 33.6 m, capable of reaching speeds under water up to 10 knots. The engineering company STM presented the project of the 42 m long STM500 submarine with an armament of four torpedo tubes. The ship is designed for a crew of 18 people with the possibility of accommodating six combat swimmers on board. With a displacement of 485/540 tons (surface/underwater), the STM500 is capable of spending more than 30 days at a depth of 250 m.
The TS1700 project is more ambitious. A 60-meter submarine with a displacement of 1517/1740 with a crew of 25 officers and sailors (plus 6 swimmers) can perform sea trips lasting 90 days. Armament: 6 torpedo tubes with 16 units of ammunition.
The stand-up artists told the visitors of the exhibition that the Turkish authorities initiated search work on the topic of next-generation underwater equipment in the spring of 2012. The IDEF 2021 exhibits demonstrated what serial products the customer can expect in the next nine years with appropriate financing.
The proposals of Dearsan and STM were not accepted by the Ministry. The Ministry of Defense has made a bet on an alternative project MILDEN 2022.
PioneersTurkey's first attempt to acquire a submarine fleet dates back to the end of the XIX century.
Swedish inventor and industrialist Torsten Nordenfeld offered his services. In 1885, he managed to solve the main technical problems of steam traction and opened the production of steam submarines in Sweden and England. They are known by the English spelling of the inventor's surname – Nordenfeldt. In the surface position, the submarine could pass "under steam" up to 240 km. Nordenfeldt proved to be the world's first submarine capable of firing a torpedo at a surface target while remaining submerged.
Torsten Nordenfeld managed to attract the attention of Russia and Turkey. Having barely set sail on a course to the Baltic, the boat intended for the royal navy ran aground and fell into disrepair, therefore the purchase contract did not enter into force. When the Turkish boat was ready, she went to torpedo firing, during which she sank. They decided not to finish building the second Turkish boat. Having unsuccessfully acted as one of the first foreign customers for underwater vehicles, the Ottoman Empire lost all interest in them.
The first two really combat-ready boats appeared in the Turkish navy in 1927. They were built at the Fijenoord shipyard in Rotterdam and commissioned as Birinci Inönü and Ikinci Inönü. A couple more were bought from Italy in 1931.
The next step is connected with the activities of the Dutch company IVS, opened by German specialists shortly after the end of the First World War. According to the IVS drawings, in 1934, the E-1 submarine with a displacement of 650 tons was built at the Spanish shipyard in Cartagena. It was intended for local sailors, but they did not accept it. The finished boat was sold to Turkey. The new owners gave her the name TCG Gür, she served them from 1935 to 1947. Then the IVS partner, the German firm Deshimag, built four ships of improved design, which were named Atılay, Saldıray, Batıray and Yıldıray.
In 1939, Turkey ordered four boats from the British firm Vickers. They represented a reduced modification of the type S DPL by reducing the number of torpedo tubes to four. The boats were built on time, but with the outbreak of World War II, they were requisitioned by the British government. They did not serve the Royal Navy for long: two were handed over to the Turks in 1942, one was killed in 1943, the remaining one left service in 1945. Turkey operated these boats until 1957.
Post - war stageThe next stage in the development of the Turkish submarine fleet came in 1952 with the country's entry into the military-political bloc of NATO.
The Americans generously gifted the new ally with the boats of the Balao family (21 units) that are being decommissioned by the US Navy. At the time of the transfer, they were obsolete, many were badly worn out. The United States also gave the newly minted ally a pair of quite modern Tang–type drones - they served until 2004.
Washington's decision to abandon the further construction of nuclear-powered nuclear-powered vessels in connection with the transition to nuclear-powered ships forced Turkey to look for another supplier. The most interesting was the German proposal. The Germans helped the Turks to organize the assembly of boats of the Type 209 project at the enterprises of the local industry.
The first three such ships were made at German shipyards in 1975 and served for 40 years. The next three under the license agreement with Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft (HDW) were assembled at the customer's facilities. These boats entered service from 1981 to 1989. Then came the turn of four submarines of the improved version T1.1400, built from 1994 to 1999.
The final four of the T2.1400 variant entered service from 2003 to 2008. Thus, since 1979, Turkey has assembled 11 Type 209 boats under license. Today the oldest is 40 years old.
Plans for a deep modernization with the insertion of the VNEU compartment were not implemented. Instead, the Turkish naval commanders decided to gradually replace the aging boats with new Type 214. The size of the first batch is set at six units. In 2011, Turkey issued a contract for 2 billion euros to the German industrial giant ThyssenKrupp (where HDW goes) so that the foreign partner could start producing the necessary case saturation.
HDW has committed to supply ready-made power plants, agreeing to replace German systems and equipment with Turkish ones made under license or developed independently. The agreement on the assembly of hulls at the shipyard Gölcük Naval Shipyard was signed in 2016.
The first such Pirireis boat was launched in December 2019. It is currently undergoing testing. The next five buildings are in varying degrees of readiness.
Most likely, the first batch of boats will be built, since the customer has made a large prepayment for German components prescribed in the 2011 contract. There may not be a second party: its fate depends on the development of relations between Germany and Turkey.
There is an alternative to the continuation of the production of submarines under a German license in the face of the national MILDEN program. It is still undergoing the preliminary design stage. The release of working documentation is expected to begin in 2025, and the first building will be built at the beginning of the next decade.
If the lead ship successfully passes the tests, serial production will be established in its likeness at the Gölcük Naval Shipyard. And this, in turn, will determine the shape of the Turkish navy's submarine forces for half a century to come.
Vyacheslav IvanovVyacheslav Viktorovich Ivanov is a military expert and historian.
