Construction starts on Turkish Navy’s three new Istanbul-class frigates

Turkish Navy has held a steel-cutting ceremony for the three new Istanbul-class frigates being built under the Milgem project.

The steel-cutting ceremony took place at Sedef Shipyard in Tuzla, Istanbul, on 11 April. At the same time, the navy, in the presence of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, commissioned its largest warship, the amphibious assault ship TCG Anadolu.

The ceremony comes a week after Turkish shipbuilding company STM signed a contract to build the ships.

 The delivery of three new warships will be realized by STM-TAİS OG business partnership.

STM also noted that it will equip the vessels with national technology and systems in three different shipyards (ADIK, Sedef and Sefine) in 36 months. As the main contractor, STM will deliver the first vessel of the class in the last quarter of 2023.