NATO’s Submarine Warfare Exercise Dynamic Manta 2022 kicked on 21 February 2022, off the Sicilian coast, with ships, submarines, aircraft and personnel from 9 Allied nations. According to the NATO press release, submarines from France, Greece, and Italy joined surface ships from Canada, France, Greece, Italy, Spain, Turkey, the U.K. and the U.S. for the... Continue Reading →
Aselsan Gökdeniz CIWS System Will Be Tested On Board TCG Sokullu Mehmet Paşa
Today the Rhein class auxiliary ship, TCG Sokullu Mehmet Paşa, left her homeport in Tuzla, İstanbul and headed to the Black Sea. TCG Sokullu Mehmet Paşa and her sister TCG Cezarli Hasan Paşa have two 100mm gun turrets. The aft turet on board of TCG Sokullu Mehmet Paşa was removed in 2018. She was used... Continue Reading →
Rostov-na-Donu Returns Home
Today improved Kilo-class (Proj. 636.3) submarine of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, Rostov-na-Donu made northbound passage through Bosphorus. 13.12.2015. During her passage, Turkish Coast Guard vessels TCSG-312 and KB-4309 escorted the submarine. She has 6 533mm torpedo tubes and carries a combination of up to 18 torpedoes, SS-N-27 anti-ship, and Kalibr land-attack missiles. She passed... Continue Reading →
Turkish Parliament Extends The Presence Of The Navy In Gulf Of Aden For One Year
On 2nd February 2022, The Grand National Assembly of Turkey, extended the presence of the Turkish Navy in the Gulf of Aden, Arabian Sea, and adjacent seas for one more year. The first bill allowing the Turkish government to deploy Turkish Naval Forces for anti-piracy operations was accepted on 10 February 2009. It was extended... Continue Reading →
Russian Minehunter Georgy Kurbatov Passed Through Istanbul
The Project 12700 Aleksandrit class minehunter Georgy Kurbatov made her inaugural passage through Istanbul this afternoon. She was towed by the Project 22870 class rescue Tug SB-739 Spasatel Vasily Bekh. It was not clear why the mine hunter was towed. One reason is to preserve her engines and not to used unnecessarily. Another reason is... Continue Reading →
Converting LHD Anadolu To A Drone Carrier
Prologue: This article was first published in Defence Turkey Magazine Issue 106. It is not a secret that Turkey intends to operate an aircraft carrier. This desire was made public by President Erdoğan during his speech at the launching ceremony of the frigate TCG Istanbul. The interest of Turkey to operate airplanes from a large... Continue Reading →
FS Auvergne Passed Southbound Through Istanbul
The French warship FS Auvergne made her southbound transit through Istanbul this morning and left the Black Sea. Her northbound passage was on 13 December 2021. During her deployment to the Black Sea, the ship visited Constanta, Romania and Odessa, Ukraine. This was her first Black Sea deployment.
Submarine Search And Rescue Exercise Dynamic Monarch/Kurtaran Has Ended
Dynamic Monarch/Kurtaran 2021, the 11th in a series of NATO sponsored live Submarine Escape and Rescue (SMER) exercises was held 12 to 24 September in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, off the coast of Aksaz, Turkey. I think that the scenarios applied in this year's Dynamic Monarc/Kurtaran exercise are very similar to the scenarios in Kurtaran... Continue Reading →
SNMCMG-2 Entered The Black Sea
Between 20 and 23rd September the Standing NATO Mine Countermeasures Group Two (SNMCMG2) made a port visit in Istanbul. The task force consisting of The flagship ESPS Rayo, Turkish minehunter TCG Edincik and Italian minehunter ITS Viareggio were berthed at the Sarayburnu quay. After this short break, the task force sailed through Istanbul and entered... Continue Reading →
