Turkish Navy To Get 8 ATR-72-600 Planes Instead Of 10 As Originaly Agreed.

21 May 2013 3 Comments

The heavy edited announcement from the Italian aircraft maker Aleina Aermacchi made it sound so nice, it was too good to be true.

Alenia Aermacchi has signed an agreement with Savunma Sanayii Müsteşarlığı (SSM), the Turkish Undersecretariat for Defence Industries to deliver two ATR 72-600 TMUA (Turkish Maritime Utility Aircraft) and six ATR 72-600 TMPA (Turkish Maritime Patrol Aircraft) to the Turkish Navy. The contract calls for strong industrial collaboration between Alenia Aermacchi and Turkish Aerospace Industry (TAI) for the duration of the project.

But the magic lasted only one paragraph.

The agreement is an amendment to a previous deal between Alenia and the Turkish government for the delivery of 10 ATR 72-500 ASW to the Turkish Navy.The most important change into the contract amendment is the adoption of the new -600 version of the ATR 72, the best in class of regional Turboprop. The original contract was based on the now out of production ATR 72-500.

I think the whole Meltem acquisition project should be thought in business and project management courses as a case study as an example how not to run a project.

When the Project started in 1998, CASA was still an independent company; the C-295 has just made its maiden flight and its ASW version did not exist even in the dreams of the CASA/EADS/Airbus Military engineers. After 16 years we still do not have any fully operational ASW planes for our navy.

And it gets only worse. Last week the Alenia announced that they were going to delivery 8 new planes to Turkish Navy. This is actually BS as two of the planes will be two ATR 72-600 TMUA (Turkish Maritime Utility Aircraft) which means in plain English that these planes will carry neither weapons nor any sensors. They will be used cargo planes.

Thanks to the agreement, the Turkish Navy will obtain the last generation ATR72-600 equipped with a glass cockpit as well as more powerful engines that guarantee best performance and supportability for the next 30 years.

The two ATR 72-600TMUA–already in the modification phase at Alenia Aermacchi’s plant in Naples-Capodichino–will be used by the Turkish Navy for personnel and cargo transport and will be delivered in June and July 2013 .

In July 2005 a contract was signed to procure 10 ATR-72-500 planes for ASW missions, to be used by Turkish Navy after the first part of the program involving the CN-235 planes was stuck.  8 years later, the Italians realized that they cannot deliver the 10 planes to according to the deal done in the contract so they had to renegotiate the whole deal. Now we get 2 planes less but a newer version of the ATR-72 plane as production of the  -500 variant is discontinued in the mean time.

As the newer -600 version has improved engines it is believed that the performance of the -600 will be superior to the old -500 version. But this fact has to be proven first.

I must give my respects to the PR people of the SSM and Alenia as they deserved it by making a good news from the rotten state of the whole Meltem Project; that is some spin doctoring.

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The BlackSeaFor Activation Continues

19 Apr 2013 Leave a comment

The Commander of the BlackSeaFor task force ships. Photo: Black Sea News. Used with permission

The Commander of the BlackSeaFor task force ships. Photo: Black Sea News. Used with permission

While the French, The Cypriots and the Turkish navies are busy in simulating searching and rescuing distressed people in the seas, the navies of the Black Sea countries are continuing the April 2013 activation the BlackSeaFor.

Interestingly the ships of the BlackSeaFor task force did simulated a search and rescue operation in high sea among themselves.

The excellent Black Sea News has a very good posting about the Black Sea For.

…

Also, during a training exercise on the transition from Varna to Constanta on the ships received a sudden opening of the command BLACKSEAFOR. At some point, every ship conditionally breaks down the steering, and crews conducted training on the transition from primary to spare and emergency management vehicles.

Not without one of the most important episodes of the exercise – the search and rescue of people at sea. With Turkish helicopter into the water was dumped mannequin man. At this time, the ships were in international squadron of fifteen miles away, at a distance of a mile of each other. The task of each crew were the first to discover and climb aboard the “victim.”

Here distinguished Ukrainian crew of sea trawler “Cherkasy”, commanded by Captain 3rd Rank Yuri Fedash.

By his order on the ship was enhanced visual observation of the water area above the water with the help of all shipboard optical devices. Upon arrival to the area of ​​Ukrainian sailors first discovered the “victim” on the surface of the sea, and successfully lifted on board. At the end of the first stage of the exercise of sea ships Black Sea Naval Cooperation Task Group BLACKSEAFOR stopped to rest in the Romanian port of Constanta.

…

Read the whole text here.

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The April Activation Of The BlackSeaFor Has Started

5 Apr 2013 Leave a comment

The warships participating in the April 2013 activation of the BlackSeaFor have arrived in Varna, Bulgaria for the event kick off.

This is a video from Russian website tvzvezda.ru about the Russian participation, but many other ships are seen in the video too.

Click here to watch the video

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TCSG Dost And TCSG Umut To Be Commissioned

4 Apr 2013 Leave a comment

SG701 TCSG Dost on builders trials two years ago.

SG701 TCSG Dost on builders trials two years ago.

Two new vessels will join Turkish Coast Guard tomorrow.

The first ship of the new search and rescue ship TCSG Dost and the third ship of the class TCSG Umut are joining the Turkish Coast Guard with a ceremony held at the RMK Shipyard.

The contract for the construction of 4 ships at RMK Marine Shipyard was signed on 16 January 2007. The keel of the first ship TCSG Dost was laid on 3 May 2008. She was launched on 9 June 2010 and was supposed to enter service last year. Similarly TCSG Umut was launched in 2011 and supposed to enter into service this year. So TCSG Dost is entering two years late and TCSG Umut is entering into service just about time.

But what happened to the second ship of the class TCSG Güven which was launched in 2011? When will she commissioned, why is she delayed? 

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The April 2013 Activation Of The BlackSeaFor

2 Apr 2013 Leave a comment

Turkish Milgem class corvette F-511 TCG Heybeliada. The flagship of the BlackSeaFor task force.

Turkish Milgem class corvette F-511 TCG Heybeliada. The flagship of the BlackSeaFor task force. This photo was taken during the August 2012 Activation of the BlackSeaFor.

The warships of Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, Russia, Ukraine and Turkey will take part in the April 2013 activation of the BlackSeaFor between 5 and 23 of April.

The warship of the BlackseaFor, under the Command of Turkish Navy, will spend 6 days on the sea and 13 days visiting Varna, Constanta and Sevastopol. During this activation search and rescue training, simulation training and navigation, tactical maneuvering and communication training will be conducted.

The Milgem class corvette F-511 TCG Heybeliada will be the flagship of the BlackSeaFor.

Following ships will take part in the April 2013 activation:

Number
Name
Nation
Type
F-511 TCG Heybeliada (Flagship) Turkey Corvette
142 RFS Novocherkassk Russia Frigate
13 BGS Reshitelni Bulgaria Corvette
265 ROS C.A. Horia Macellariu Romania Corvette
U-311 UPS Cherkasy Ukraine Minehunter
P-24 GCG Sokhumi Georgia Patrol Boat

The Russian large landing ship 142 RFS Novocherkassk.
This photo was taken during the August 2012 Activation of the BlackSeaFor.

The Bulgarian Corvette 13 BGS Reshitelni. This photo was taken during the April 2012 Activation of the BlackSeaFor.

The Bulgarian Corvette 13 BGS Reshitelni. This photo was taken during the April 2012 Activation of the BlackSeaFor.

The Romanian Tetal 2 class corvette 265 Contraamiral Horia Macellariu. This photo was taken during the August 2012 Activation of the BlackSeaFor.

The Romanian Tetal 2 class corvette 265 Contraamiral Horia Macellariu. This photo was taken during the August 2012 Activation of the BlackSeaFor.

This photo was taken during the April 2012 Activation of the BlackSeaFor.

The Ukrainian mine hunter U-311 UPS Cherkasy. This photo was taken during the April 2012 Activation of the BlackSeaFor.

This photo was taken during the April 2011 Activation of the BlackSeaFor.

The Georgian Patrol Boat P-24 GCG Sokhumi. This photo was taken during the April 2011 Activation of the BlackSeaFor.

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Shalatein In Istanbul

29 Mar 2013 1 Comment

Egyptian supply ship A-230 Shalatein in Istanbul.

Egyptian supply ship A-230 Shalatein in Istanbul.

The Egyptian replenishment tanker A-230 Shalatein is in Istanbul for an official visit for an undisclosed duration.

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Putin Orders A Surprise Military Exercise In The Black Sea

28 Mar 2013 2 Comments

One of today’s top news was the sudden wargame of Russian armed forces in the Black Sea. This exercise has all the drama of the opening chapter of a cold war thriller.

The drills started early in the morning, when President Vladimir Putin, who was returning from Durban, South Africa, to Sochi aboard Air Force One, ordered Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu to alert the Black Sea fleet, as well as the regional Air Force and troops.

Shoigu opened an envelope delivered to him at 4:00am Moscow time, and only then learned of the planned war games.

Different news outlets report that at least 30 Russian warships are taking part in this mob flash war game. According to this website there are 42 active Russian warships in the Black Sea Fleet. If 30 ships are really taking part in the exercise this makes %70 of the whole Black Sea fleet.

Defense Ministry press secretary Igor Konashenkov told Interfax that the drills “engaged over 7,100 troops, around 250 armored vehicles, some 50 cannons, up to 20 fighter jets and helicopters and about 30 various warships.”

“The training partly involves Air Forces, rapid deployment paratrooper divisions, Marines, special forces of the Intelligence Service of Russia’s General staff,” presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said, adding that at least three airborne insertions are planned during the exercises.

A ship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet during large-scale military exercises Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered while flying back from the South African Republic to Moscow. (Screen shot of a video of Zvezda TV channel). (RIA Novosti)

The troops and vehicles made a 500-kilometer march to assigned shooting ranges for target practice. The warships also conducted firing exercises in which the Russian Air Force practiced supporting naval and ground forces.

According to international practices, Russia remains within its rights not to inform any country about the military drills, given the large number of soldiers taking part in the war games, Peskov said. He also did not excluded possibility of President Putin personally inspecting the ongoing military training: The city of Sochi is situated on the Black Sea, very close to the training zones.

At the moment there is a lot of speculations about the reason behind this sudden and massive war game. I will put my money on the upcoming Sochi Olympics. This might be a good opportunity for the Russian to exercise a what if scenario related to the security of the Olympics.

I have no information about the official reactions of the Turkish institutions to this exercise. But I have an educated guess as I know what I see:

A Turkish 209 Type 1200 class submarine heading to Black Sea.

A Turkish 209 Type 1200 class submarine heading to Black Sea on 25 March 2013.  Photo: Kerim Bozkurt. Used with permission.

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Chinese Warships To Be Constructed In Turkey

24 Mar 2013 Leave a comment

I must confess that I was appealed when I read this news article for the first time. The article is not a hoax but I do seriously doubt if the honorable Admiral Shiliang Su was not pulling the legs of the Turkish journalist.

This whole story reminded me when the People’s Republic of China promised to send 1 million Chinese tourists to Turkey to agree Turkey to allow passage of the aircraft carrier Varyag through Turkish Straits.

Here is the English translation by Google of the article that is originally in Turkish.

Chinese Warships To Be Constructed In Turkey

China, which is the construction of a number of the world’s cargo and passenger ship, is to order the battleship landed in Turkey. Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy Commander Vice Admiral Su Shiliang, said they wanted to work with warship construction of the Turkish shipyards.

WORLDWIDE, with 85 per cent of freight and passenger ship orders in China , Turkey chose to order the military war ship. Participation from 18 countries, the 12th Europort Istanbul Fair, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy Commander Vice Admiral Su Shiliang headed for 6 people participated in a delegation. The delegation of Turkey stated that naval shipbuilding successful in this regard anlaşabilirlerse said they wanted to work with Turkish shipyards.

Taking advantage of opportunities that would be the years of 2013 and 2014 for Turkey, President of the Chamber of Maritime Commerce Text Kalkavan very big chances for new markets, he said. Turkish shipyards crisis by acting fast ship, repair, maintenance, and repair tends to not only repair the rapidly increasing number of shipyards that Kalkavan, “which is produced in the world to spend 3 times the maintenance got off the ship, each ship can not go to China. There is a market, especially in Europe 80 billion euros, but the ship is unable to price competition with China new ship orders, repairs, maintenance and repair of the lower’ve China, “he said.

DEFENCE offensive with

Turkish sailors with their own means of energy carriers have a wide range of military warships Kalkavan stated that, “the biggest exports in the coming years will the defense industry. Issues such as warships and military defense boots to the success and quality of Turkish shipyards do not have a country that is currently cultivated. Many countries of the world, mainly in Europe warships attack and defense boots orders and re-export of Turkish sailors will pass, “he said. Kalkavan the next 10 years, the industry’s major goals of putting a new 200 thousand jobs, he said.

Are not equal,

Text indicating that they are unequal countries have competing THE INDUSTRY Kalkavan, “If you consider what we are equal, no? Began a new era in the maritime sector. This sector, which survived as long as a crisis, then the path will continue to grow more then progressed. Comes from a very young population and a staff of trained, “he said. Government support in the world that they are not the only maritime sector underlines the President of the Chamber of Maritime Commerce Text Kalkavan, “Thank you for that state. In this way, the shipping industry, shipbuilding industry, ship repair, maintenance, and repair warships headed to the fields of energy and specific so many different platforms, floating plants in the world shipbuilding
to be a single, ship repair, maintenance, managed to be the second, “he said.

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The Russian Warship Bora Will Visit Istanbul In May

21 Mar 2013 2 Comments

Bora Class Guided Missile Corvette Samum. Photo: Wikipedia

Bora Class Guided Missile Corvette Samum. Photo: Wikipedia

The Voice Of Russia reported today that a Russian warship will be visiting Istanbul between 7 and 10 May 2013.

The Bora class hoverborne guided missile corvette of the Russian Navy, RFS Bora will be in Istanbul during the IDEF’13, 11th International Defence Industry Fair.

The Bora class corvettes have a very unconventional structure where a large air cushion is placed between a catamaran hull.

This shape provides lift and high speed.

The ship is armed with Moskit anti-ship missiles and short range anti aircraft missiles.

The sensor suit and the armament of this class closely resembles another Russians corvette class Tarantul.

It is the largest military hovercraft unmatched anywhere in the world. With the displacement of 1000 tons, the craft has a cruising speed of 100 kilometers an hour. It is armed with 8 Mosquito missiles which can strike targets on the sea and on land. The hovercraft has 20 anti-aircraft missiles, an artillery complex, a machine-gun and an interference creating device. The hovercraft has an aluminium hull. Though it’s a light craft, its seaworthiness is very high. The hovercraft can be on an autonomous voyage for 10 days. One refueling is enough for 2,500 miles. The complement is 68 men.

I sincerely hope that I may be able to take photos of the strange and interesting vessel.

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A New Photo Of Yonca Onuk Boats In Turkish Navy

20 Mar 2013 Leave a comment

P-142 TCG Yunus 2

P-142 TCG Yunus 2

Today I was lucky to see one of the two patrol boats constructed by Yonca Onuk shipyard for Turkish Navy. A photo of the other boat P-141 TCG Yunus 1 was made public in December 2012. This is her identical sister P-142 TCG Yunus 2.

The Turkish Coast Guard is the largest customer of the KAAN class boats in Turkey. The Turkish Navy surprisingly uses on four boats: Two for the infiltration of special forces teams and two for harbor patrol. I am even not sure if the two boats for special forces have a name. The patrol boats are given proper pennant numbers and names.

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