Turkey announces 3 new naval projects; 31 warships now under construction
Turkey announced the construction of three new warships on Thursday, bringing the total number of Turkish ships under construction to 31.
The Turkish Ministry of Defense announced it was building a new submarine, an aircraft carrier, and a “TF-2000 air defence warfare destroyer,” Middle East Eye reported.
Turkey is also “currently constructing five Reis-class submarines based on the German-designed Type 214, seven I-class frigates, six open-sea patrol vessels (OPV-2100), eight modern landing craft tanks (LCTs), one modern mine-hunting ship, and one 55-class fast attack craft (FAC),” the report stated.
Yusuf Akbaba, an independent defense industry consultant, spoke to Middle East Eye concerning Turkey’s motivation for its significant naval expansion.
“Turkey’s overseas interests, particularly in Africa, demand that the Turkish navy develop global power projection capabilities,” Akbaba said. “Turkey will maintain a permanent fleet off the coast of Somalia and use this new power projection capability to support its allies in Southeast Asia.”
According to Akbaba, one of Turkey’s goals appears to be to “position Turkey as the primary power in the eastern Mediterranean, elevating it to a level where it may be on par with France for dominance across the Mediterranean as a whole.”
The All Israel News Staff is a team of journalists in Israel.
