So against whom is the fleet of the new Ottoman Empire being built?
Let's digress from the events in Kazakhstan, although during their discussions "suddenly" another geopolitical player appeared on the world stage. Which is also indirectly involved in the Kazakh events.
Our urchin, the coming Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who clearly still dreams of the New Ottoman Empire (from the Red Sea to the Arctic Ocean) and (naturally) the throne of the Sultan of the Empire, is ripening everywhere.
If you look closely at what kind of foreign policy Turkey is pursuing, it becomes clear that another not just a predator, but rather a toothy beast with ambitions, has been jumping on the world stage for a long time.
Ambitions are supported by a very decent military-industrial complex, capable of satisfying all the demands of the military.
And the military does not sit idly by. They are fighting the Kurds in Iraq and Syria, almost openly defending Idlib, which can be said to be that hotbed of terrorism, they are present with supplies weapons and advisers in Libya, advise Kazakhstan, are friends with Azerbaijan with might and main. Oh yes, we should not forget about the occupation of Northern Cyprus since 1974.
Pretty active. And in NATO in good standing. The second largest army in the alliance.
Today we will look at the Turkish fleet.
This is a very interesting phenomenon that makes you think and ask a number of questions, the first of which is why does Turkey need such a fleet at all?
There is no doubt that Turkey is a maritime power. Black and Mediterranean seas plus straits. Naturally, warships are needed to protect the coasts and economic zones, control the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles.
The Turkish Navy has 165 warships and boats. 16 frigates, 10 corvettes, 16 patrol ships, 12 submarines, 11 minesweepers, 33 landing craft and boats, 18 missile boats and 33 patrol boats.
Doesn't that seem like a lot? Especially in terms of landing craft?
The total displacement of ships of the main classes is 88 tons, which is quite a lot. For comparison, the German fleet, which performs approximately the same tasks, but on a smaller coastline, has 500 submarines, 6 frigates, 12 corvettes, 5 minesweepers, 19 auxiliary ships with a total tonnage of 28 tons.
The Black Sea Fleet of Russia has 1 missile cruiser (old), 5 frigates (2 old), 6 submarines, 6 minesweepers (3 old), 10 missile ships and boats (6 old). Total tonnage of warships fleet about 67 tons.
There are also a lot of old ships in the Turkish fleet. These are, for example, 8 frigates of the Oliver Perry type, built in the USA in the 80s of the last century. Or the former French corvettes of the D'Estienne d'Orves type, built even earlier, in the 70s.
However, Turkey is actively building its new ships. And he does it quite successfully. A striking example is submarine forces. The Turkish submarine fleet consists entirely of submarines designed and even partially manufactured in Germany. The final completion is made in Turkey.
Submarines of the type "Atylau"
These are German Project 209 boats. Patrol submarines of the coastal zone, quiet and with very decent performance so far. Today, 4 boats out of 6 original boats remain in the fleet.
Prevese-class submarines
These are project 209T boats, modernized. 4 units.
Gur-class submarines
Project 209T2 boats. More modern (2003-2007 years of construction).
In general, in general, the German project 209 turned out to be very, very successful. The boats are just perfect for service in coastal shallow areas, low noise and small in size. A little autonomy is not a disadvantage, since the waters of the Black, Aegean and Mediterranean seas are not so large, and the Aegean Sea, in which there are many islands, is especially suitable for the use of these small boats.
In addition to the main armament of eight 533-mm torpedo tubes, Project 209 boats can easily spit the Harpoon in its underwater modification.
214 type submarines
Six new generation submarines will be built on the basis of the German project 214TN. The project was developed specifically for Turkish requirements. The first boat of the series has already been launched, the rest should be in operation by 2027.
Boats will have to have greater autonomy, and seaworthiness will also improve. 4 out of 8 torpedo tubes can launch the Harpoon anti-ship missiles.
However, Germany has already delivered boats of this project to Greece and South Korea. Not everything is as beautiful as promised, the boats have a lot of shortcomings that require improvements, the buyers were especially puzzled by the noise level, which turned out to be much higher than promised. There is a need for improvements in tightness.
However, by the level of 2027, the Turkish fleet will have 18 submarines, of which 10 will be new or almost new.
Surface forces
Here, the work on the new Anadolu UDC is interesting, with which a decent scandal with consequences is associated.
The ship is interesting in that it can be used as a UDC, and can be turned into a light aircraft carrier. The design of the Spanish aircraft carrier Juan Carlos I was taken as a model. "Anadolu" has a good defensive air defense (by the way - completely Turkish production) and the prospect of becoming the flagship of the Turkish fleet.
With this (these) ship (considering that there are plans to build a second such ship, Trakia), Turkey could generally enter the elite club of countries with aircraft carriers, but alas.
As a light aircraft carrier, Anadolu could have used the F-35В, but alas, after the purchase of the Russian S-400 systems, Turkey was deleted from the list of buyers of this aircraft. So plans to build an aircraft carrier will have to be abandoned. However, Anadolu and Trakia will be able to carry helicopters (12 units) and Droneswith which Turkey has no problems.
Yavuz frigates
These are well-known German frigates of the MEKO 200 type. There are 4 of them in the Turkish fleet, 2 were built in Germany, 2 already in Turkey itself. A balanced ship that is in service in several countries. American radar weapons, AN / SPS-49. The predecessor of Aegis is very, very good even today. But in general, the ships require replacement as obsolete, since they have been in service since the 80s of the last century.
Frigates type "Barbaros"
An improved MEKO project built in the late 90s of the last century. They were also built out of order, 2 in Germany, 2 in Turkey.
Frigates type "G" or "Gabya"
These are American frigates of the Oliver Perry class. The United States sold ships built in the 28s to Turkey at a similar price (about $80 million) at the beginning of the XNUMXs. The low cost of frigates was explained by the fact that the zealous Americans removed from the ships all military equipment that was of at least some value.
The Turks immediately carried out modernization by installing a CICS of their own production, adapted the deck of the ships (these were frigates of the “short” series, with a smaller flight deck) to receive S-70B Seahawk helicopters, and installed their weapons.
Four frigates were specialized as air defense ships. They installed PU Mk.41 on eight cells for RIM-162 and RIM-66E-5 missiles. Control computers and radars were completely replaced.
Four other frigates became attack ships. In addition to electronic equipment, they installed the Mk.13 Mod 4 launcher, from which you can launch both RIM-66 anti-aircraft missiles and Harpoon anti-ship missiles. The standard store of the installation holds 4 anti-ship missiles and 36 missiles.
It turned out to be very serious ships for their displacement (4200 tons). It is the Turkish "Americans" who are the main striking force of the fleet and participants in all military operations from the blockade of Libya to Somalia.
Frigates of the type "Istanbul"
Without stopping there (meaning the complete reworking of the Olivers Perry and the modernization of the Yavuz), the Turks are working on the promising project TF-2000 (Turkish Frigate-2000). As part of the MILGEM project, four frigates of type "I" (ISTIF) or "Istanbul" are being built. The first ship of the series will have to enter service in a year or two, and launched in 2021.
This is a ship completely created in Turkey and equipped with Turkish systems. The heart is the GENESIS ADVENT CICS, which other ships are also equipped with.
The ships are well armed: 1 x 76-mm and 2 x 25-mm artillery, Aselsan GOKDENIZ CIWS anti-aircraft gun mount of 35 mm caliber, 16 Atmaca anti-aircraft missile launchers, 2 universal UVP MDAS for 8 cells each, in cells, of course, you can load anything from anti-aircraft missiles to Tomahawks. Plus two twin-tube 324-mm torpedo tubes. Naturally, a helicopter and drones.
As in any normal fleet, coastal patrols and anti-submarine defense are assigned to corvettes.
Burak-class corvettes
French built ships, export variant called "D'Estienne d'Orves". The boats have earned a reputation for being easy to operate and very reliable. In addition, they are quite well armed: a 100-mm gun, two 20-mm anti-aircraft guns, anti-submarine bombs and torpedoes, and even two Exocet anti-ship missile systems. More than enough to solve the problems of coastal defense.
In general, Turkey bought imported ships, including in order to plug holes in its own production, which worked for promising ships of the future. And such ships eventually went into series.
Hell-class corvette
It was created within the framework of the same MILGEM program, which was supposed to equip the Turkish fleet with domestically produced ships. Happened.
The corvettes will replace the French-made ships, and there will also be eight of them.
These are corvettes quite well equipped for anti-submarine (and not only) defense. 76-mm gun, two 12,7-mm machine guns, 2 launchers for 4 Harpoon anti-ship missiles each, Mk.49 RAM launcher for 21 RIM-116 anti-aircraft missiles, two 324-mm twin-tube torpedo tubes, S-70B helicopter " Seahawks.
For a ship with a displacement of 1524 tons - luxurious. The cruising range and autonomy are small, but this is not necessary for a coastal ship.
Plus, the corvette turned out to be very inexpensive with such tricks. The capabilities of Turkish combat electronics were appreciated by Pakistan, Ukraine and Indonesia, which have already ordered these ships.
Turkey's military shipbuilding program continues to develop. Erdogan's apparently ambitious goals require appropriate reinforcements, and a strong navy is one component.
Therefore, work is underway in the country to create a new destroyer and patrol ship for the DMZ. To ensure the proper level of air defense systems of new ships, a new generation multifunctional radar with an active phased array (CAFRAD project) is being created. To ensure the operations of Turkish ships at a distance from the bases (I wonder where and why?), a new supply vessel (project DIMDEG) is being created, which is capable of providing everything necessary for a monthly stay in the DMZ of four warships of the Turkish fleet.
The only question that arises is: where and in what distant seas are such actions of the Turkish Navy planned? For the Black and even the Mediterranean Seas, supply vessels of such a plan are absolutely not required, and sea patrol ships, too. And to protect the coast and the straits, the Turkish Navy has everything you need.
Given the construction of frankly non-defensive UDC along with other classes of ships, it turns out that Turkey sees itself in the future not only as a maritime power that controls its straits and coasts, but clearly claims more. That is, for a more active participation in the life of the maritime community.
Moreover, Turkey has everything for this: the shipbuilding industry demonstrates the ability to build ships of various classes, including large-tonnage ones. The Turkish military-industrial complex has practically solved the problem of equipping ships with domestically produced weapons.
In general, today the Turkish fleet seems to be a balanced and combat-ready coastal defense fleet with a sufficient number of ships of various classes and a developed coastal basing and maintenance structure. But in the future, there is a desire to play at a higher level.
So far, the only disadvantage of the Turkish fleet is that Turkish air defense systems and anti-ship missiles have a frankly short range, from 50 to 120 km. The hope of the Turkish fleet tomorrow is to develop its own Atmaka anti-ship missiles, the range of which is planned in the region of 350 km.
The dynamics of the development of the Turkish fleet, coupled with a very peculiar foreign policy of a selfish pan-Turkic persuasion, cannot but make one think about who will be in the sight of the Turkish fleet if Erdogan's excessive ambitions are realized.
It is very difficult to say exactly where the ambitions of the Turkish leader will lead the Turkish fleet, but it is possible. The Mediterranean Sea will definitely not be in Turkey's sphere of interest, since the maps of Erdogan's imaginary Ottoman (Pan-Turkic) empire include lands to the east.
And the Mediterranean Sea itself will be able to control the fleets of Italy and France, which, like Turkey, are part of NATO. And while these two fleets (you can add the Spanish to them) are quite capable of solving any tasks of blockade of some coast or strikes on the territories of third countries.
There is also the Greek fleet. Greece is also a member of NATO, but for some reason it is with Turkey that the Greeks have constant incidents, if not clashes. However, Greek problems do not worry us much, since these two countries are still brothers in NATO. And, in which case, the leaders of the bloc will besiege them.
More interesting is the Black Sea region, where Turkish interests at a certain time can easily overlap with Russian ones. Moreover, given the suddenly thawed Turkish-Ukrainian relations and Turkey's ambitions in the direction of some regions of Russia and other countries of the former USSR, everything is possible here.
Especially given the dynamics of the development of the Turkish fleet.
As one military specialist recently said (Viktor Baranets - ed.), we began to set conditions for NATO because we could afford it. The same can happen in the performance of Turkey, which sooner or later will also be able to afford territorial or ethnic claims.
For example, to the same Crimea. In Turkey, such thoughts are in the minds of some.
And here the question arises of the capabilities of the Black Sea Fleet as an instrument of deterrence. A very important tool.
Today, the KChF is still quite fit to restrain Turkey's ambitions with its presence and weapons. However, as you know, appetites come with eating.
It is difficult to predict what will happen tomorrow in our world, but it is a fact that after some time the KChF ships built 40-50 years ago will not be able to perform their functions properly.
Talking about the prospects for the development of the fleet on the Black Sea is a separate topic altogether, but in order to moderate the ardor of the new Ottoman sultan, it will be enough to build a sufficient number of missile launchers that can simply prevent Turkish ships from reaching our shores.
And on the shores there should be coastal-based anti-ship missile launchers, and also in sufficient quantities. A plus aviation.
The Black Sea Fleet and coastal forces must be updated in such a way as to surpass the capabilities of a potential adversary, which is Turkey. Especially considering that the Black Sea is not that big and its water area can be shot through in both directions just easily.
Today, the Turkish fleet is nothing more than an auxiliary component of NATO forces, but it is difficult to say where Erdogan's ambitions will lead the country. In any case, landing ships, of which Turkey has more than enough, and new ones are being built, are by no means a defensive weapon.
No one is now saying that a conflict and a Turkish landing in the Crimea is possible tomorrow. However, the opportunity itself is a good idea to keep in mind when drawing up strategic plans for the future. Just like that, no country has ever built a fleet.
Information