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Turkey plans to launch its first Istanbul-class frigate F515 in January 2021​


According to news published on the HABER VAKTI website, January 2, 2021, the construction of the first Istanbul-class frigate F515 continues at the Istanbul Shipyard Command in collaboration with many Turkish companies under the leed of Turkish company STM. The Istanbul-class frigate F515 will be launched on January 17, 2021.
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Russian Vyborg Shipyard laid the Purga ice class coastguard ship of project 23550 925 001

The new Istanbul-class frigate F515 for the Turkish Navy. (Picture source Naval Analyses)



The Istanbul-class is a new generation of frigates developed under the MILGEM Turkish warship program as the I-class frigate. As of 2018, the MILGEM project covers four Ada class anti-submarine warfare corvettes and one ELINT corvette, four Istanbul class multipurpose frigates and TF2000 class anti-air warfare destroyers destined for the Turkish Navy, four Jinnah-class frigates for the Pakistan Navy.

The first Istanbul-class frigate F515 was laid down on 19 January 2017. Turkey has ordered four Istanbul-class frigates named TCG İstanbul F-515, TCG Izmir F-516, TCG İçel F-517, and TCG İzmit F-518.

The Istanbul-class frigate, also referred to as TF100 and TF2000, has been designed to perform Anti-Air Warfare (AAW) missions carrying ESSM missiles as well as Anti-Surface Warfare (ASuW). The ship has a length of 113.2 m, a beam of 14.40 m, a drfat of 4.05 m and a displacement of 3,000 tones.

The Istanbul-class frigate is powered by a CODAG (Combined Diesel and Das) type main propulsion system including 1 gas turbine and 2 diesel engines. The ship can reach a top speed of 29 kn (54 km/h; 33 mph) with a maximum cruising range of 6,570 nmi (12,170 km; 7,560 mi) at 14 kn (26 km/h; 16 mph). She will have a crew of 125 sailors.

The Istanbul-class frigate has an operational capability of 15 days without replenishment. The ship has a hangar and a landing deck to carry S-70B Seahawk ASW (Anti-Submarine Warfare) helicopter and Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV)/

The Istanbul-class frigate is armed with one 76 mm (3 in) Oto Melara Super Rapid naval gun, two 25 mm (0.98 in) Aselsan STOP remotely operated weapon stations, one CIWS (Close-In Weapon Station), 16 Mk 41 VLS (Vertical Launching System) able to launch Harpoon or Atmaca anti-ship missiles, 16Mk.41 VLS for ESSM designed to counter supersonic maneuvering anti-ship missiles and two 324 mm (13 in) Double Torpedo launchers.

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XavNN

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Turkey Launches The Lead Ship Of I-Class Frigates “Istanbul”
Turkey-launches-the-lead-ship-of-I-class-frigates-Istanbul-770x410.jpg.webp

Istanbul Shipyard today launched the lead ship of the I-class frigates, the future TCG Istanbul (pennant number: F-515). The ceremony hosted VIP guests including President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Ministry of Defence Hulusi Akar, Chief of the Turkish Armed Forces and Chief of the Turkish Navy. Pakistan Navy’s third ADA-class corvette’s (MILGEM) first welding was also conducted during the ceremony.
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azretonov

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It's a fairly small frigate at only 3000 tons. Turkey has 8 aging Perry class frigates they need to phase out over the next decade or so.
These new frigates are destined to replace their older MEKO 200s from mid-1980s.

If I'm not mistaken, their OHPs are going to be replaced by AAW destroyers dubbed TF-2000 class, starting from 2027.
tf2000.jpg
 

Austin Powers

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These new frigates are destined to replace their older MEKO 200s from mid-1980s.

If I'm not mistaken, their OHPs are going to be replaced by AAW destroyers dubbed TF-2000 class, starting from 2027.
View attachment 68256

2027? Wow. That's a long time away. A lot of things can change. I know US has CAATSA sanction on Turkey. Maybe EU won't sanction Turkey.
 

azretonov

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2027? Wow. That's a long time away. A lot of things can change. I know US has CAATSA sanction on Turkey. Maybe EU won't sanction Turkey.
Yeah but they're pretty new in this sector with less than 20 years of practical experience. CAATSA sanctions are a little bit loose and doesn't apply to current non-exhausted export authorizations. So if they've got their export authorization before CAATSA decision, those items should be delivered (in theory).

In any case, the only thing that can be affected by CAATSA on that destroyer is its' gas turbines. Apparently, the Turkish navy is quite fond of their GE Aviation LM2500+ but it appears, they are preparing at least a couple contingency plans on that matter to get their ship realized. According to their defense media, both RR MT30 and the Ukrainian UGT 25000 are on the table and we might actually see the latter in practice with the Turkish-built new Ukrainian corvettes.
 

Austin Powers

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These new frigates are destined to replace their older MEKO 200s from mid-1980s.

If I'm not mistaken, their OHPs are going to be replaced by AAW destroyers dubbed TF-2000 class, starting from 2027.
View attachment 68256

I'm guessing it's roughly on par with Type 054A then? The lack of strictly VLS as seen on all the latest Chinese and Russian ships is intriguing.
 

Austin Powers

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64 VLS. Closer to the Type 052D, I suspect, both in armament and displacement.

Except it's nowhere close. It'll probably be laid down by 2030s or 2040s if nothing goes wrong. Meanwhile, Type 055 dwarfs it and Type 055 is already operational. If anything, TF-2000 is similar to 22350M except without the latter's striclty VLS and AESA.
 
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azretonov

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I'm guessing it's roughly on par with Type 054A then? The lack of strictly VLS as seen on all the latest Chinese and Russian ships is intriguing.
I had the opportunity to meet some people during IDEF 19 defense expo and according to the intended main contractor, STM's representitive present there, TF-2000's full displacement should be well over 8000 tons. The preliminary report suggests it will have at least 64-cell VLS system but the design phase still goes on.

The first ship should be laid down by mid-2024, right after Pakistan's 3rd ship's launch but we can't be sure until the contract phase.
 
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