Turkey’s Second Istif Frigate TCG İzmir Puts to Sea for Trials

Turkey's second Istif-class frigate, TCG İzmir (F-516), left Anadolu Shipyard at Tuzla on 10 August for its first sea acceptance trials. The ship is the second of four I-class frigates ordered under Turkey's MILGEM national shipbuilding programme.

The main change from the lead ship is in the forward vertical launch system. TCG İstanbul (F-515) carries a tactical-length MIDLAS VLS; TCG İzmir has the strike-length version. The cell count stays at 16, but the extra depth makes room for longer missiles, including interceptors from Turkey's SİPER air defence family and land-attack cruise missiles not yet confirmed for the initial weapons fit.

The frigate measures 113.2 metres, displaces 3,000 tonnes and reaches above 29 knots. Range is 5,700 nautical miles at a 14-knot cruising speed. More than 80 per cent of the ship's systems are built domestically, from the ATMACA anti-ship missiles and 76mm main gun to the 35mm close-in weapon system and all combat software.

Two more I-class hulls are on order after TCG İzmir. Turkey has been building up to frigates from the smaller MILGEM corvettes over roughly a decade, and the I-class programme represents the top end of that domestically produced fleet.

Izmir is one of Turkey's main naval ports. The bay and the Aegean approaches showed 188 vessels on MarineRadar in the past 48 hours. The Turkish Navy drew separate attention last week when its commandos retook the hijacked cargo ship MV Lutuf off the Somali coast, killing 14 pirates.