Turkish Navy’s third Milgem class corvette, the F-513 TCG Burgazada, was launched June 18 during a ceremony attended by president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım.
TCG Burgazada is the third ship of the series built at Istanbul Naval Shipyard Command as part of the Milgem project that was launched in 2004.
The construction of the Burgazada Corvette began on December 17, 2014, at Istanbul Naval Shipyard Command. The 29 blocks of the corvette were built in 18 months and assembled on the slipway.
After its launch, outfitting operations are to be continued before testing and initial entry into service. According to STM, the ship is expected to be delivered two months prior to the contracted date of December 2018.
Turkey is planning to build an overall of 12 multi-purpose Milgem corvettes in order to enhance its littoral warfare capabilities and to bridge the gap in the operational requirements of Turkish Navy by introducing a platform which lies between the spectrum of frigate and patrol boat.
The corvettes are designed to embark ASW/ASUW helicopters and are fitted with Harpoon missiles and a 76 mm gun.
Employing the CODAG propulsion system, the 99.5-meter ADA class corvettes are capable of achieving speeds of around 29 knots.
Milgem ships are also fitted with the indigenously developed combat management system GENESİS. The system is also used on Turkish eight G-class frigates.