Turkish Naval Forces Command (TNFC) received its fourth and last Ada-class (Milgem) anti-submarine warfare corvette, TCG Kinaliada (F 514), on 29 September at a commissioning ceremony held at Istanbul Naval Shipyard.
“Recent developments around the world and the Mediterranean Sea have shown us that we have to be much stronger in the seas, just as we are in other areas,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said during the ceremony.
He said Kinaliada would differ from the previous three corvettes as it will be equipped with Turkey’s Roketsan-built Atmaca (Hawk) anti-ship cruise missile, which is intended to replace the navy’s AGM-84 anti-ship missiles. The Roketsan- and Havelsan-built Advent ship management system will also be installed for the first time in Kinaliada , he added.
Other state-owned local companies have also performed major work on Kinaliada : STM Defence has provided design, construction, and engineering activities, while Aselsan has provided gun and sensor systems for the ship.
Erdogan claimed that Turkey has become one of 10 countries able to develop, build, and maintain a warship using exclusively domestic means.
“We will soon build our own warplanes, just as we have built our own UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles [and] ATAK [attack] helicopters. If they woke the sleeping giant, they will suffer the consequences,” he said, referring to Turkey being expelled from the US-led F-35 Joint Strike Fighter programme.
The Milgem project reached a local industrial content level of 70%, with 50 Turkish companies taking part as subcontractors in the project, Erdogan noted.
During the commissioning ceremony for Kinaliada
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