The national patrol vessel TCG AKHİSAR, which enhances the strength of Turkey’s naval forces, stands out with its domestic and indigenous weapon systems.
The vessel, currently under construction at the Istanbul Shipyard Command, will have an 80% domestic production rate. Rear Admiral Recep Erdinç Yetkin, the commander of the Istanbul Shipyard, stated that the TCG AKHİSAR can sail from Istanbul to Kuwait without refueling and has the capability to launch and land helicopters.
TCG AKHİSAR will be used in a wide range of missions such as reconnaissance, surveillance, patrol, humanitarian aid, and evacuation operations as part of the Blue Homeland tasks. The ship is being built under the MİLGEM project and is designed by the Ministry of National Defense’s Naval Forces Command Design Project Office. It will be equipped with a 76mm national naval gun produced by MKE, with a range of 16,000 meters. Additionally, major Turkish defense industry companies, including HAVELSAN, ASELSAN, MKE, and ROKETSAN, are involved in the project.
The ship will be 99.5 meters long, 14.4 meters wide, with a draft of 3.7 meters, a maximum speed of 26 knots, and a displacement of 2,300 tons. Its cruising range is set at 4,000 nautical miles. The weapon systems onboard include the ATMACA anti-ship missile and the HİSAR O air defense system. A total of 104 personnel will be assigned to the ship, and it will also feature a 10-ton capacity helicopter pad, enabling Sea Hawk helicopters to land on the vessel.
TCG AKHİSAR will be equipped with environmentally friendly and efficient machinery control systems and will begin acceptance tests in December. This ship is seen as a significant step toward increasing Turkey’s defense industry self-sufficiency and strengthening its naval capabilities.
