On August 1, 2024, in Turkey, at the Istanbul Shipyard in Tuzla in the Asian part of Istanbul, the launching ceremony of the second corvette F 212 "Hetman Ivan Vigovsky" of the Turkish Ada (MILGEM) type, which is under construction for the Ukrainian Navy, took place. This is the second of two ships out of two ordered by Ukraine under a contract dated December 2020. The launch ceremony was attended by the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Rustam Umerov, Commander of the Ukrainian Navy Vice Admiral Alexei Neizhpapa, as well as the First Lady of Ukraine Elena Zelenskaya.
The second corvette F 212 "Hetman Ivan Vigovsky" of the Turkish Ada (MILGEM) type, which is being built for the Ukrainian Navy in Turkey, before launching at the Istanbul Shipyard. Istanbul, 08/01/2024 (c) Ukrainian Navy
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 corvettes of the Turkish MILGEM project (type Ada) for the Ukrainian Navy. The general contractor for the construction of Ada-type corvettes for Ukraine is the Turkish state design and consulting company Savunma Teknolojileri Mühendislik ve Ticaret A.Ş. (STM), and both corvettes are being built in Turkey under contract at Istanbul private shipyards. The cost of the lead ship for Ukraine in 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.
According to the agreement, two more corvettes were to be built under license and with the assistance of STM in Ukraine at the Okean plant (Nikolaev), which also signed a corresponding agreement with SSB in December 2020. According to Turkish sources, the total framework value of the contract with Ukraine was more than $1 billion.
The actual construction of the Ada-type head corvette for Ukraine was started at the RMK Marine shipyard in Tuzla in the Asian part of Istanbul on April 28, 2021, the official laying ceremony of the head 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 F 211 "Hetman Ivan Mazepa". The launch of the lead ship was carried out on October 2, 2022. On May 29, 2024, the lead corvette Hetman Ivan Mazepa for the Ukrainian Navy was first put to sea for testing.
Simultaneously with the descent of the lead ship "Hetman Ivan Mazepa" on October 2, 2022, the ceremony of the first steel cutting for the second ship was performed. However, the second corvette is being built at another shipyard - at the private enterprise Istanbul Shipyard also in Tuzla. The second corvette for the Ukrainian Navy was officially laid down there on August 18, 2023. On March 8, 2024, the President of Ukraine announced the assignment of the name "Hetman Ivan Vigovsky" to the second corvette, now this corvette has been launched.
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, these works were to be carried out at the Okean plant in Nikolaev, while it was planned to begin factory sea trials by the end of 2023 and hand over the ship to the Ukrainian Navy in 2024. Similarly, the second corvette was to be completed and completed in Ukraine. However, due to the current circumstances of wartime, the implementation of these conditions has become impossible and both ships will be fully completed and handed over to the Ukrainian fleet in Turkey.
The armament of the Ukrainian ships should include the Boeing Harpoon Block 2 anti-ship missile system (eight missiles, not yet installed on the lead ship at the test stage), eight (on the lead ship, on the second, possibly. increased to 16) vertical launchers of the MBDA VL MICA short-range anti-aircraft missile system, the 76 mm Leonardo Oto Super Rapid universal artillery system, the 35 mm Turkish double-barreled anti-aircraft artillery system Aselsan Gokdeniz, two 12.7mm remotely controlled machine gun Aselsan STAMP-2 and, presumably, two 324 mm three-tube torpedo tubes the device for anti-submarine torpedoes (MU90). The ship should carry a medium helicopter permanently based.
The electronic armament installed on the lead Ukrainian corvette includes the Thales SMART-S Mk 2 general detection radar, the Thales STING-EO Mk 2 combined fire control system, two Aselsan ALPER navigation radars, the Aselsan ARES-2N electronic reconnaissance complex, two Aselsan AREAS-2NC electronic warfare stations, satellite communication stations manufactured by Aselsan, as well as a complex VAE Systems Mk 36 SRBOC and the Aselsan Hizir anti-torpedo trap system. According to publications, the ship is equipped with the GENESIS Turkish automated control system and the Aselsan FERSAH mobile active-passive gas, as well as the towed Hizir torpedo detection gas.
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 Nikolaev State Research and Design Center for Shipbuilding (CPCC, Ukraine). In total, the Turkish Navy planned to have 12 corvettes of this type, but in the end, only four ships were authorized and built. The construction of the F 511 Heybeliada lead corvette has been carried out at the Turkish State 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 Büyükad a was delivered 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 STM for the supply of four MILGEM corvettes to the Pakistani navy, and in June 2024, Malaysia signed an agreement on the construction of three such corvettes in Turkey.
The ceremony of launching the second corvette F 212 "Hetman Ivan Vigovsky" of the Turkish Ada (MILGEM) type, which is being built for the Ukrainian Navy in Turkey, at the Istanbul Shipyard. Istanbul, 08/01/2024 (c) Ukrainian Navy
A visit by a Ukrainian delegation led by First Lady of Ukraine Elena Zelenskaya, Minister of Defense of Ukraine Rustam Umerov and Commander of the Ukrainian Navy Vice Admiral Alexei Neizhpapa at the Turkish shipbuilding company RMK Marine to the head corvette F 211 "Hetman Ivan Mazepa" of the Turkish Ada (MILGEM) type built for the Ukrainian Navy. Istanbul, 08/01/2024 (c) the official page of Elena Zelenskaya on the social network Facebook
Video of the descent of the second corvette:
