Anadolu Shipyard (ADIK) announced the ceremony held in company facilities in Tuzla on its social media accounts, saying, “We have laid the keel for the first block of MILGEM 6 (second I-class frigate) in our shipyard, as part of the procurement project for the sixth, seventh, and eighth ships of MILGEM.” SSB Head of Naval Platforms Cenk Cumhur Kıykım attended the ceremony.
The MILGEM project is currently about the procurement of three I-class frigates. The Defence Industry Agency (SSB) signed a contract with STM-TAIS partnership to construct them. TAIS is a partnership of three shipyards: Sedef, Sefine and ADIK. In April 2023, three shipyards held the stell-cutting ceremony of these three frigates. The shipyards are expected to deliver all three frigates in 36 months. These three shipyards have previous experience with naval ship projects: Sefine Shipyard constructed the Turkish Navy’s DIMDEG Replenishment at Sea and Combat Support Ship (TCG Derya), which is at sea Acceptance tests. ADIK built a Landing Ship Tank (LST) for the Turkish Navy, an armed Cadet Training Ship (CTS) and Landing Craft Mechanised (LCM) for the Qatar Emiri Navy (QENF), and Sedef Shipyard built the Turkish Navy’s flagship TCG Anadolu L400.
The I-class Frigate Program of MILGEM was launched to construct four frigates to replace ageing YAVUZ-class Frigates in the mid-2020s. The first frigate of the programme, TCG Istanbul, is a longer variant of the Ada-class anti-submarine warfare (ASW) corvette.
The class’s lead ship, TCG Istanbul, is currently undergoing sea trials and will enter service by the end of this year.
