PNS Khalid Handed Over To The Pakistan Naval Forces After Modernisation

26 Jan 2023

STM Defense Technologies Engineering and Trade Inc., one of the leading companies in the Turkish defense industry, reached another important milestone as the second Agosta 90B class submarine PNS Khalid was delivered to the Pakistan Navy Command with a ceremony. The first submarine of the project, the PNS Hamza was delivered on April 21, 2021.

STM won the tender for the submarine modernization project in 2016. This was the first time that a Turkish company was modernizing a naval vessel, not in service of the Turkish Navy. The tender, which initially included the semi-life modernization of one Agosta 90B class submarine, was later expanded to include the modernization of the second and third submarines. As part of the modernization, various sensor and weapon systems are updated with the latest technology systems, particularly systems assembled and integrated by STM.

The original sonar suites, periscope systems, information distribution systems, command and control systems, radars, and ESM re replaced as part of the modernization. Additional features beyond the current capabilities of the submarines were also gained during the modernization. The project, systems from many local and domestic companies such as ASELSAN and HAVELSAN were also exported as part of the project. All necessary structural repairs related to the submarine and materials used are also certified by DNV (Det Norske Veritas), an international classification organization.

The project is being carried out at Karachi Shipyard & Engineering Works in Pakistan, with engineering, design, materials, training, documentation, and technical support provided by STM.

Filed under Equipment, Turkey Tagged with , , ,

PNS Yarmook Spotted On Her Delivery Voyage

29 Feb 2020 1 Comment



The newest warship of Pakistani Navy PNS Yarmook sailed southbound through Istanbul this afternoon. This is the first time that the vessel passed through Istanbul. This is her delivery voyage to Pakistan.

The Pakistani OPV was built in Damen Shipyard, in Galati Romania, the first ship of a class of two. PNS Yarmook was commissioned in Pakistani service with a ceremony held on 13th February in Constanta Romania. The 2300 tonnes vessel is based on Damen OPV 1900 class and has a length of 90 meters and a beam of 14,4 meters.

Damen will deliver the second vessel PNS Tabuk in May 2020.

These vessels will be able to perform a variety of maritime operations and can transport both a helicopter and a UAV. The ship can launch two high-speed RHIBs of 11.5 meters and 6.5 meters simultaneously and also has the capability to accommodate two 20 feet TEUs for mission-based operations.

Filed under Bosphorus Tagged with , , ,

Doğu Akdeniz Naval Exercise 2019

13 Nov 2019 2 Comments

Doğu Akdeniz 2019 -Eastern Mediterranean- naval exercise has started in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea.

The biannual exercise is organized by the Turkish Navy will be held between 9 and 20 November 2019. This year 16 nations are taking part in this exercise by various means. Some are sending observers (Azerbaijan, Brazil, Georgia, Italy, Qatar, Kuwait, Lebanon, Mexico) some are sending ships, airplanes, and units (Bulgaria, Spain, Italy, Canada, Pakistan, Romania, Jordan, USA, and Greece)

According to the press releases, 4700 personnel, 44 ships and submarines participating in this exercise.

Furthermore, the following institutions are taking part in the exercise:

  1. Turkish Land Forces Command with attack and transport helicopters.
  2. Turkish Air Force Command with fighter planes, airborne warning and control planes, and CBRN defense team.
  3. Gendarmerie General Command with search and rescue teams.
  4. Coast Guard Command with one OPV and various small vessels.
  5. Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Health, Transport, Maritime and Communications Ministry, Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency, and Turkish Red Crescent

An important part of the exercise will be the attempts to provide coastal safety during disasters by means of disaster and emergency operations, search and rescue, humanitarian aid and air sanitary evacuation procedures.

The most noteworthy aspect of the exercise is the fact that countries such as Greece and Italy are taking part in this exercise, although they are in a power struggle regarding the natural resources below the Eastern Mediterranean.

Here is the list of the participating units as far as I could find it. The list of foreign participants is complete but the names of 13 Turkish naval assets are missing.

Number Name Type Nation Fleet
42 BGS Verni Frigate Bulgaria
S-532 ITS Prini Submarine Italy
260 PNS Alamgir Frigate Pakistan
F-221 ROS Regele Ferdinand Frigate Romania
A-5329 ITS Vesuvio Auxilliary Italy SNMCMG-2
M-268 TCG Amasra Mine hunter Turkey SNMCMG-2
M-32 ESPS Sella Mine hunter Spain SNMCMG-2
M-5557 ITS Numana Mine hunter Italy SNMCMG-2
330 HMCS Halifax Frigate Canada SNMG-2
A-14 ESPS Patino Auxilliary Spain SNMG-2
F-103 ESPS Blas de Lezo Frigate Spain SNMG-2
F-459 HS Adrias Frigate Greece SNMG-2
F-491 TCG Giresun Frigate Turkey SNMG-2
A-543 TCG Işın Auxilliary Turkey
A-580 TCG Akar Auxilliary Turkey
F-244 TCG Barbaros Frigate Turkey
F-490 TCG Gaziantep Frigate Turkey
F-491 TCG Giresun Frigate Turkey
F-494 TCG Gökçeada Frigate Turkey
F-495 TCG Gediz Frigate Turkey
F-497 TCG Göksu Frigate Turkey
F-500 TCG Bozcaada Corvette Turkey
F-501 TCG Bodrum Corvette Turkey
F-511 TCG Heybeliada Corvette Turkey
F-512 TCG Büyükada Corvette Turkey
L-402 TCG Bayraktar Amphibious Turkey
L-403 TCG Sancaktar Amphibious Turkey
M-265 TCG Alanya Minehunter Turkey
M-270 TCG Akçay Minehunter Turkey
P-334 TCG Rüzgar Fast attack Turkey
S-353 TCG Preveze Submarine Turkey

Filed under Mediterranean Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , ,

TCG Gökçeada Deployed To The Indian Ocean

27 Jan 2019 1 Comment

TCG Gökçeada heading into a sand storm. Photo: Turkish Naval Forces

TCG Gökçeda will start her goodwill visit to Doha, Qatar on 28th January 2019.

The frigate departed from Aksaz Naval Base on 13th January 2019 for a 3-month deployment to the Indian Ocean which will be her third. The frigate passed through the Suez Canal on 16th January and proceed to Djibouti her first port of call.

Following her visit to Qatar, TCG Gökçeada will sail to Pakistan and will take part in the exercise AMAN-19.

Pakistan started to organize AMAN multinational exercises in 2007 to promote regional cooperation and stability, greater interoperability and to display a united resolve against terrorism and crimes in the maritime domain including Piracy. AMAN-19 is the sixth such exercise planned.

After completion of the exercise, TCG Gökçeada will join CTF-151, the multinational task force against piracy off the coast of Somalia and will return home on 17th March 2019.

 

 

Filed under Turkey, Turkish Navy Tagged with , , , , , ,

The Participants of Mavi Balina 2018 Naval Exercise

7 Oct 2018

TCG Bandırma (left) and TCG Gemlik (right) receiving fuel underway from replenishment ship TCG Akar. Photo: Turkish Navy

Mavi Balina (Blue Whale) 2018 invitation naval exercise is going to end today with a post-exercise briefing in Aksanz Naval Base in Marmaris.

Mavi Balina is a biannual anti-submarine warfare exercise where the participating units had the opportunity to increase their readiness for actual submarine warfare operations.

Here is a list of the surface units took part in the exercise:

Number Name Type Country
F-245 TCG Oruçreis Frigate Turkey
F-490 TCG Gaziantep Frigate Turkey
F-491 TCG Giresun Frigate Turkey
F-492 TCG Gemlik Frigate Turkey
F-493 TCG Gelibolu Frigate Turkey
F-502 TCG Bandırma Corvette Turkey
F-512 TCG Büyükada Corvette Turkey
P-1204 TCG Tarsus Patrol Boat Turkey
A-580 TCG Akar Tanker Turkey
F-804 HNLMS De Ruyter Frigate Netherlands
F-105 ESPS Cristobal Colon Frigate Spain
F-253 PNS Saif Frigate Pakistan
F-211 ROS Regele Ferdinand Frigate Romania

Filed under Exercise, Mediterranean, Turkish Navy Tagged with , , , , , , ,

Mavi Balina 2018 Naval Exercise Starts Tomorrow

28 Sep 2018 1 Comment

Romanian frigate ROS Regele Ferdinand seen here passing through Istanbul on 25th September 2018. She is going to take part in Mavi Balina Exercise.

Mavi Balina (Blue Whale) 2018 invitation naval exercise will be held between 28th September and 7th October in the eastern Mediterranean.  Turkish Navy will host ships, airplanes, helicopters, boarding teams and observers from, Algeria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Pakistan, Romania, Saudi Arabia and the United States of America. Furthermore Standing NATO Maritime Group Two (SNMG2) will take part in the exercise too.

Mavi Balina is a biannual anti-submarine warfare exercise. Participating units will have the opportunity to increase their readiness for actual operations and to increase their ability to perform joint operations.

Turkish Navy will participate with 4 frigates, 5 submarines, 2 corvettes, 1 replenishment ship, 1 patrol boat 3 maritime patrol planes, and 6 helicopters.  Airplanes from Turkish Airforce will also take part.

NATO Maritime Group Two will deploy the flagship The Dutch frigate HNLMS De Ruyter, the Spanish frigate ESPS Cristóbal Colón, the Greek frigate HS Elli and one yet undisclosed Turkish frigate.

Pakistan will join with the frigate PNS Saif and one maritime patrol plane. Romania will deploy the frigate ROS Regele Ferdinand and one helicopter. One maritime patrol plane from US Navy will take part in the exercise too.

Algeria, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Pakistan, Romania, Saudi Arabia NATO, and the United States will send 19 observers

18 visit, board, search, and seizure (VBSS) team members and 7 VBSS trainers from Azerbaijan are going to take part in Mavi Balina exercise. Their training will be evaluated by 3 men strong VBSS audit and evaluation team from NATO MARCOM.

Filed under Exercise, Mediterranean, Turkish Navy Tagged with , , , , , ,

Turkey Helps Pakistan To Recover The Wreck Of The Lost Helicopter

7 Sep 2018

The photo of the search and rescue team before their departure to Pakistan. Photo: Turkish Navy

One Sea King helicopter of Pakistani Navy crashed to the Arabian Sea on 31st August 2018. According to Pakistani Navy, the helicopter was conducting routine training operations when lost. 3 sailors were rescued and one dead were recovered. Pakistan asked Turkey to help to locate the wreck and recover the bodies of the 3 missing aircrews.

A 25 strong search and rescue team from the Turkish Navy was dispatched with an A-400M cargo plane of Turkish Airforce. Among the equipment, send are autonomous underwater vehicles.

Filed under Accidents, Turkish Navy Tagged with ,

TCG Gelibolu Takes Part In AMAN 2017

11 Feb 2017 1 Comment

tam-ekran-yakalama-11-02-2017-085849

TCG Gelibolu arrives at Karachi to take part in AMAN 2017 naval exercise. Photo: @Lieutenant_J

TCG Gelibolu arrived in Karachi to take part in Pakistan led naval exercise AMAN 2017. Last week she was in Seychelles as a participant top Cutlass Express exercise.

This is the first time that Turkey is taking part in this exercise with a warship. In previous exercise Turkey was present with naval special forces teams.

The biannual exercise will take part in Arabian Sea between  10 and 14 February 2017.

37 countries are participating in the exercise, nine of them with naval units. The exercise is aimed to help in enhancing interoperability with regional and extra regional navies.

This is the list of the participating naval units:

Number Name Type Country
151 Arunta Frigate Australia
112 Harbin Destroyer China
575 Handan Frigate China
960 Dongphingu Tanker China
367 Sultan Iskandarmuda Frigate Indonesia
Altay Tug Russia
Dubna Tanker Russia
619 Severomorsk Destroyer Russia
P-621 Samudra Patrol Boat Sri Lanka
F-493 Gelibolu Frigate Turkey
D-32 Daring Destroyer UK
6 Amelia Earhart Tanker USA
1304 Maui Coast Guard Vessel USA
1309 Saquidnek Coast Guard vessel USA
5 Typhoon Patrol Boat USA

Filed under Exercise Tagged with , , ,

Mavi Balina 2016 Naval Exercise

20 Nov 2016 1 Comment

cdy_2167

Romanian corvette, Contraamiral Horia Macellariu on her way to the Mavi Balina 2016 ASW exercise.

Yesterday, on 19th November 2016, anti submarine warfare exercise Mavi Balina (Blue Whale) has started. The exercise led by Turkish Navy will be held in Eastern Mediterranean.

The aim of the exercise is to increase the submarine warfare and ASW skill of the participating units. Turkish Navy is taking part with 4 frigates, one corvette and 5 submarines. Besides Turkey, Bulgaria, Canada, Pakistan, Romania, Spain and USA are also taking part in the exercise with warships.

The list of the participating units:

Number Name Type Country
41 BNS Verni Frigate Bulgaria
339 HMCS Charlottetown Frigate Canada
260 PNS Alamgir Frigate Pakistan
256 ROS Contraamiral Horia Macellariu Corvette Romania
A-15 ESPS Cantabria Tanker Spain
A-580 TCG Akar Tanker Turkey
F-245 TCG Oruçreis Corvette Turkey
F-492 TCG Gemlik Frigate Turkey
F-493 TCG Gelibolu Frigate Turkey
F-496 TCG Gökova Frigate Turkey
F-497 TCG Göksu Frigate Turkey
F-503 TCG Beykoz Corvette Turkey
P-344 TCG Rüzgar Missile boat Turkey
P-345 TCG Poyraz Missile boat Turkey
S-351 TCG Doğanay Submarine Turkey
S-352 TCG Dolunay Submarine Turkey
S-354 TCG Sakarya Submarine Turkey
S-358 TCG Çanakkale Submarine Turkey
S-359 TCG Burakreis Submarine Turkey
64 USS Carney Destroyer USA

Filed under Exercise, Mediterranean Tagged with , , , , , , , , , ,

Aselsan Will Supply Electronic Support Measures For Pakistani Submarines

5 Nov 2016 2 Comments

SMART-S Mk2 3D radar and ARES-2N EW antennas

5 ARES-2N EW antennas can be seen below the SMART-S Mk2 3D radar on the mast of TCG Heybeliada.

Turkish military electronic company Aselsan was chosen to supply ARES-2SC  electronic support measures system for the Agosto 90B submarines in Pakistan Navy, according to IHS Jane’s.

ARES family of ESM systems are developed by Aselsan to be used both on surface ships and on submarines. The ARES ESM system detects, intercepts, identifies, classifies, tracks, direction-finds (DF), localizes, platform correlates, records and provides audio warnings of threat signals within the 2 to 18 GHz frequency band.

ARES-2N is integrated into Turkish Ada class corvettes and the ARES-2NS, especially for submarines, is fitted to the 2 modernized Ay class submarines. This system is also selected for the Reis (Type 214) class submarines.

The main difference between ARES-2N and ARES-2NS is, that the latter has smaller antennas and a single operator console due to the limited space available on submarines.

The system on Pakistan submarines will be the second generation ARES-2SC that has a dedicated ESM mast antenna, as well as a separate omnidirectional radar warning receiver (RWR) antenna designed for installation on periscopes.

Aselsan officials Told Jane’s during Indodefence 2016, that the company has recently been selected to provide the ARES-2SC system as part of the upgrade of the Pakistan Navy’s Agosta 90B submarines. In this case, it will give the main ESM to STM (as prime contractor), while it will separately supply the periscope-mounted RWR antenna to Airbus DS Optronics for mounting on a new search periscope.

 

Filed under Equipment, Turkey Tagged with , , ,

← Older posts

%d bloggers like this: