Türkiye's first national frigate, TCG Istanbul (F-515), was launched three years ago today, on January 23, 2021.
TCG Istanbul, the first ship of the MILGEM I-class frigate project, which is the continuation of the 2nd phase of the MILGEM Ada-Class corvettes, was developed under the main contractor of STM.
In the project initiated by the Defense Industry Agency for the Turkish Navy, a total of 220 different companies, including around 80 subcontractors, the vast majority of which are domestic, worked for more than 150 systems.
The contract was signed in 2019
The contract for the procurement of the 5th ship of MILGEM was signed between the Defense Industry Agency and STM for the construction of TCG Istanbul on April 12, 2019. The Istanbul Frigate, the first construction activities of which started on July 3, 2017, was delivered to the Turkish Naval Forces Command on January 19, 2024.
TCG Istanbul will carry out advanced air defense and surface warfare, anti-submarine warfare and patrol activities.
The frigates, which will perform reconnaissance and surveillance, target detection, identification and recognition, early warning missions and base and port defense missions, have been designed with advanced maritime features and completely national resources.
National and domestic
TCG Istanbul has a full length of 113 meters and a width of 14.4 meters. The I-class frigate, which has a displacement of about 3 thousand tons, will be able to carry and launch surface-to-air guided missiles, unlike the Ada-class corvettes.
The I-class frigate will have a national electronic warfare system and a new generation national battle management system, improved weapons, radars and sensors, and communication and navigation systems with an 80 percent domestic contribution.
All kinds of design, engineering and system-material procurement activities related to the construction and equipment of the ship are continued by STM.
