ISTANBUL - Turkey launched its first national war ship and mine-sweeper in Istanbul on Saturday.
The national war ship "Heybeliada" and mine-sweeper "Akcay" were put to sea in a ceremony held at a dockyard in Pendik, Istanbul.
"We have set minimizing independence of our Turkish Armed Forces on foreign countries and meeting the needs of the needs of the Naval Forces Command through national industry our prior target," Erdogan said in the ceremony.
Erdogan said the national ship project (Milgem) would raise standards in military ship construction.
Also speaking in the ceremony, Gen. Ilker Basbug, the chief of General Staff, said that it was an indispensable obligation to ensure security of the seas surrounding Turkey and have a strong naval force to cope with threats.
Basbug said, "with the national ship project, we aim to have a more qualified and deterring naval force that is capable of countering symmetric and asymmetric threats and that can continue its mission without any interruption in the most challenging conditions."
Also, National Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul said that Turkey's further aim was to design and construct frigates, whereas Naval Forces Commander Admiral Metin Atac said, "with this success, Turkey has become one of the 15 countries that can design war ships in the world."
Milgem is the name of the Turkish corvette program; the purpose of which is to build a modern littoral combat warship with indigenous capabilities, extensively using the principles of stealth technology in its design. Construction of the first Milgem class corvette, TCG Heybeliada, began on 26 July 2005, and is scheduled to be completed by 25 October 2010, when it will start undergoing full sea trials before being officially commissioned. It is expected to enter service in 2011. A total of twelve Milgem class warships (eight corvettes and four frigates) will be built for the Turkish Navy, with possible exports to other countries.
(BRC)
(MIL)