Turkeys own Milgem Corvette's











Milgem, from the Turkish words Milli Gemi (National Ship), is the name of the Turkish corvette program; the purpose of which is to build a modern littoral combat warship with indigenous capabilities, extensively using the principles of stealth technology in its design. Construction of the first Milgem class corvette, TCG Heybeliada, began on 26 July 2005. TCG Heybeliada will be put to sea on 27 September 2008 and is scheduled to be completed by 25 October 2010, when it will start undergoing full sea trials before being officially commissioned. It is expected to enter service in 2011. A total of twelve Milgem class warships (eight corvettes and four frigates) will be built for the Turkish Navy, with possible exports to other countries.

F-100 class frigate

The first eight Milgem class warships will be classified as corvettes, while the last four will be named the F-100 class and will be classified as frigates. The F-100 class will be slightly larger in terms of dimensions and will be equipped with the Mk.41 VLS and ESSM, along with other additional systems for improved multirole combat capabilities. The Mk.41 VLS (Vertical Launching System) is capable of firing ESSM (Evolved Sea Sparrow), VLA (Vertical Launch Anti-Submarine Rocket), and Standard missiles, and the F-100 class frigates will be used as a -*test*-('")ing platform for the new class of four indigenous AAW frigates of the Turkish Navy, known as the TF-2000 program. The experience and technological know-how gained with the Milgem project will play an important role in determining the design characteristics and the development process of the TF-2000 class frigates, as well as the selection of the systems and equipment which will be used on these ships.


Evolution of the Milgem program

When the Milgem project was officially launched in 1996, the initial plan was to locally build MEKO A-100 corvettes of Blohm+Voss, a German shipbuilding company which specializes in building high technology warships and submarines.

In the early 2000s, the partnership plan with Blohm+Voss was shelved and the Turkish Navy decided to design and build a completely indigenous corvette. Istanbul Naval Shipyard Command executes and coordinates the design, development and construction works of the Milgem project since 12 March 2004.

The design concept and mission profile of Milgem bears similarities with the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS-1) developed by Lockheed Martin as the first member of the next generation of USN warships.




General characteristics

Type: Corvette
Displacement: 2,000 t
Length: 99.00 m
Beam: 14.40 m
Draught: 3.75 m
Propulsion: 1 gas turbine, 2 diesels, 2 shafts, 30,000 kW
Speed: Economy: 15 knots
Maximum: 29+ knots
Range: 3,500 nautical miles (6,480 km) @ 15 knots
Endurance: 21 days with logistic support, 10 days autonomous
Complement: 93 including aviation officers, with accommodation for up to 104


Sensors and
processing systems:

Fire control: G-MSYS (Genesis Milgem Savaş Yönetim Sistemi)
Search radar: Aselsan 3D search radar or EADS TRS-3D
Other sensors: X-Band radar, fire control radar, navigation radar, LPI radar, sonar
Navigation and communication systems: Electronic Navigation, SatCom, ECDIS/WECDIS, GPS, LAN
Combat Management System: GENESIS (Gemi Entegre Savaş İdare Sistemi)
Navigation and ship control: EPKİS (Entegre Platform Kontrol ve İzleme Sistemi)
Integrated Platform Management System: Imtech UniMACS 3000

Electronic warfare
and decoys: EW radar, Laser/RF systems, ASW jammers, DG, SSTD

Armament:

Guns: 1 x 76 mm (retractable for lower radar cross section, guidance by fire control radar and electro-optical systems), A position
2 x 12.7 mm Aselsan STAMP Stabilized Machine Gun Platform (guidance by Laser/IR/TV and electro-optical systems, automatic and manual modes), B position
Anti-surface missile: 8 x Harpoon Missile (or RBS15 Mk.III)
Anti-aircraft missile: 21 x RAM (Rolling Airframe Missile) PDMS
Torpedoes: 2 x 324 mm Mk.32 triple launchers for Mk.46 torpedoes
Considered Options: ESSM (Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile)


Aircraft carried: Hangar and platform for S-70-B2 Sea Hawk ASW helicopters and/or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), with the capability of storing armaments, 20 tons of JP-5 aircraft fuel, aerial refueling (HIRF) systems and maintenance systems

I gotta admit, it's a wonderful looking vessel. It's going to be almost a shame when a HAF EXOCET rapes the hull of that thing though ........

Let's leave the air force out of the picture and focus on the two respective navies.

I'm guessing this vessel features very decent stealth characteristics. Combined with TuAF's admittedly superior aerial early warning and control capability (Boeing Wedgetails), I think it's safe to say that the Milgem's odds of survival and first-see first-shoot capability versus a HN surface platform currently in use is quite high. However, Aegean Sea isn't one big open ocean where battle tactics get reduced to first see first shoot. There are thousands of small islets that can help HN turn things into a messy nightmare for the TN, and that is a very real and out in the front danger for the Turks.

Nevertheless this is a great start for the Turkish indigenous military ship building capability. They are very close to turning Milgem into a reality and the works on TF-2000 and TF-100 are officially underway. Milgem is already a very capable stand-alone vessel with state of the art torpedos, the la-*test*-('") Harpoon, modern cannon and stabilized guns and of course the RAM, but even a bigger danger will sooner or later present itself in the form of bigger, better vessels with an even larger ratio of indigenously produced subsystems. All that doesn't only increase Turkey's naval firepower, but also help them in enlarging their industrial base and the technological know-how that will become a tremendously important factor in determining the outcome of a fully blown war, should there ever be one.

It's not their current achievements that the HN should be concerned about, it's where they're going with the Milgem, their tomorrow!