Egypt’s New Corvette Towed Back To Russia

20 Aug 2015 6 Comments

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The tug Paradox on the right towing the corvette R-32 on the left.

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The Tarantul class corvette, R-32 being towed. The tow line is clearly visible at the right of the photo. The smoke coming from the stack indicates working machinery.

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The Tarantul class corvette, R-32, the latest addition to the Egyptian Navy, being towed. The tow line is clearly visible at the right of the photo.

On 19 August 2015, the Russian tug SB-921 Paradoks, towed the Tarantul class missile corvette R-32 to Russia.

The corvette made headlines when she was handed over to Egyptian Navy on 10 August 2015. According to official statements the handing of the corvette was seen as a confirmation of the cooperation and strategic partnership between Egypt and Russia and within the framework of joint military cooperation between the two countries’ armed forces.

When she was towed the corvette R-32 was observed hoisting St Andrews, the ensign of Russian Navy instead of the Egyptian one. Also the crew appeared to be Russian.

The reason, why the corvette was being towed after 5 days Egypt announced it had taken delivery of the vessel, is not obvious from the outside. The smoke coming out of the stack of the corvette indicates that either the main machinery or the generators for electricity are working. If the main machinery is not faulty the problem may be in the reduction gear, shafts, propellers or rudders.

This incident shows that any foreign navy should check about the condition of the warship before accepting it from Russian Navy.

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Friendship Bridge 2015 Naval Exercise

15 Jun 2015 1 Comment

Egyptian supply ship A-230 Shalatein in Istanbul.

Egyptian supply ship A-230 Shalatein in Istanbul in March 2013.

Last week the Russia and Egypt conducted their first joint naval exercise named Friendship Bridge 2015.

The 8 day long drills started when all participant arrived in port of Alexandria on 6  June 2015. As part of the exercises, Russian and Egyptian warships, working with air support, are expected to protect shipping lanes from various threats and conduct live fire tactical training.

This is the second naval drill involving Russian warships in Mediterranean. The previous one was with PLAN.

The list of the ships taking part in Friendship Bridge 2015 is below:

Number Name Type Nationality
230 Shaladein Tanker Egypt
604 18. June Fast Attack Craft Egypt
605 25. April Fast Attack Craft Egypt
916 Taba Frigate Egypt
961 Damiyat Frigate Egypt
110 Alexander Shabalin Landing ship Russia
121 Moskva Cruiser Russia
616 Samum Corvette Russia
MB-31 MB-31 Tug Russia
Ivan Bubnov Tanker Russia

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TCG Heybeliada Starts Her Mediterranean Tour

14 Jun 2013 2 Comments

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The Commander of Turkish Naval Forces Admiral Murat Bilgel meets with his Egyptian counterpart. Photo: Turkish General Consulate in Alexandria

The Turkish Navy announced on 10 June 2013, that the Ada class corvette F-511 TCG Heybeliada will be visiting several North African countries and Albania form 10 June to 12 July 2013.

This Mediterranean tour is important for three reasons:

  • First it will be the first cruise of TCG Heybeliada for such a duration. It will bring valuable lessons about operating this class, as a single unit for extended periods away from the organic support of Turkish Navy.
  • This tour is a very good way of increasing the soft power of Turkey in the region by using a Turkish designed and built warship. It is a text book example of power projection by naval forces in peace time operations.
  • I am sure that this voyage is also a part of the efforts to market the Ada class corvettes to foreign navies.

The visit of TCG Heybeliada to Egypt was highlighted by the visit of Admiral Murat Bilgel, the Commander of Turkish Naval Forces.

The Facebook page of the Turkish General Consulate in Alexandria has wonderful photos from the visit of Admiral Bilgel and this nice video of  TCG Heybeliada arriving in Alexandria.

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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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Turkish Landing Ship Will Participate In Naval Exericse As A Sales Representative

6 Oct 2012 2 Comments

Ç-151 TCG Ç-151 leaving her home port. Photo: ADIK

According to the ADİK shipyard’s web site the first ship of the New LCT class Ç-151 will participate to the joint Turkish-Egyptian naval exercise Sea of Friendship (Bahr El Sadaka).

In 2007, Undersecretariat for Defence Industries (UDI), submitted a Request for Proposal for 8 LCT’s. These new vessels were to be built in Turkey and had to be fast. From the four companies that submitted to the tender, ADİK shipyard was chosen. On June 2009, a contract was signed between UDI and ADİK for the production of the ships. The exact value of the contract was not made public but it is estimated to be around 100 million EUR. The production was completed right on time after 37 months.

I must confess that when I first read the Turkish Navy’s announcement about this exercise I was a surprised that 2 landing ships were among the participating units. I thought that these ships would be lager LST as the offer more accommodation and more comfort both for their crew and their passengers on a deployment to Egypt  The LCT are constructed for action on nearer shores with shorter deployment distances.

My curiosity increased as I read about the deployment of Ç-151 for this exercise as it is not very common that Turkish Navy sends LCT type landing craft to overseas exercises. The LCT are reserved  for national use. This is why they have the Turkish letter “Ç” in their pennant numbers whereas all other Turkish Naval ships have the standard NATO letters.

But my curiosity was resolved in a short time. Again according to ADİK website the company is in discussion with Egyptian Navy to supply LCT and LST for this country and the representatives of ADİK shipyard attended a  meeting of the Egyptian president Mr. Mursi in early October when he was in Ankara.

Thus the deployment of the ADİK build Ç-151 is not just a naval excursion but a sales trip as well.

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Turkish and Egyptian Navies Will Exercise In Eastern Mediterranean Next Week

5 Oct 2012 3 Comments

Turkish Navy announced that Turkish and Egyptian navies are gong to conduct a joint exercise between 7th and 14th October 2012 in the Eastern Mediterranean.

The Exercise Sea of Friendship (Bahr El Sadaka) will be hosted by Egypt. Following Turkish naval units will take part in the exercise: Two frigates, two fast attack craft, one replenishment tanker, two landing ship, one marine infantry company, two helicopters and one special forces team. There is no information about the participating units from Egyptian side.

The timing and the location of this exercise is very note worthy. But this exercise was usually held in autumn. The addition of two LST’s and one marine infantry company are also very interesting additions to this years order of battle.

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Video From From Sea Of Friendship 2011

9 Jan 2012 1 Comment

The joint naval exercise between Egyptian and Turkish Navies ended a while ago but some interesting videos surfaced on the internet.

I thank my reader Huseyin for posting the video on the comments section in the first place.

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Photos From Sea Of Friendship 2011

23 Dec 2011 7 Comments

Turkish Navy published some photos from the Sea Of Friendship naval exercise of Turkish and Egyptian navies.

From the photos I was able to identify the following ships:

901 Sharm El Sheikh, Perry class frigate

230 Shaladein Luneburg class support ship

433 Al Hadi, Hainan class ASW patrol boat,

 

Click here for more photos.

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Sea Of Friendship 2011

15 Dec 2011 1 Comment

Turkish and Egyptian navies will take part in exercise called   Bahr El-Muhabbe (Sea of Friendship) between 17 and 23 December 2011. The exercise will be hosted by Turkey and will be executed in Eastern Mediterranean.

According to the press release of Turkish Navy, the aim of the exercise is to develop mutual cooperation and interoperability between two navies.

Turkey will participate with two frigates, two fast attack craft, one tug, two patrol boats and one special forces team. Additionally airplanes from Turkish Navy and Air Force will take part in the exercise too. Egypt will submit two frigates,  two fast attack craft, one replenishment tanker, one helicopter and one special forces team.

The location and the timing of this exercise are well worth of noting. And further more my inner voice tells me that at least one ex- Perry class frigate from both navies will take part in this exercise.  And on board of Turkish G class frigate the Turkish officers will show off their modern CIC and the GENESIS modernization to their Egyptian counterparts.

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First Turkish Interceptor Delivered To Egyptian Navy

15 Dec 2011 2 Comments

The first MRTP-20 for Egyptian Navy. Photo: turkships.com. Used with permission.

The first Yonca-Onuk build MRTP-20 class fast interceptor has been shipped to Egypt.

In 2010 the Yonca – Onuk and Egyptian Navy signed a deal for the procurement of 6 MRTP-20 class fast interceptor boats. Three boats will be constructed in Istanbul at Yonca-Onuk Shipyard and the others in Egypt’s Alexandria Naval Shipyard with technology transfer. Moreover, Yonca-Onuk  will provide all the material kits to be used during the construction in Alexandria.

The boats are equipped with ASELSAN’s STAMP, stabilized machine gun system. The scheduled delivery date for the final boat is December 2012. After, Georgia, Pakistan, United Arab Emirates and Malaysia; Egypt is  the fifth country to operate Turkish designed and build MRTP class boats.

The first MRTP-20 for Egyptian Navy. Photo: turkships.com. Used with permission.

The first MRTP-20 for Egyptian Navy. Photo: turkships.com. Used with permission.

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