Mr Tatlıoğlu: "its speed was low."
View attachment 63967
I knew they'd say that one day. lol We're back to +++50 knots again. Or maybe the navy never backed down on that. lol. TTHB was a concept that everyone biased or unbiased and even a lot of really respected navy enthusiasts really saw as the optimum point. But for our navy, it is too slow.
The program could have been partially started with 4 TTHBs at least year ago, and we could have proceeded with different tonnages and concepts in packages of 4. The renewal of our navy in the main combat fleet has been prolonging for years for many reasons. But whether low-tonnage high-speed navy ships, can maintain a high level of readiness for decades beyond their planned service life like frigates of thousands of tons, I think this is one of the issues that Anmdt üstad can enlighten us on.
On the other hand, the insistence on this issue (increasing corvette-sized warships to extraordinary speeds) also constitutes a very clear and concrete definition of the Navy's doctrinal approach. Ironically, when you go back hundreds of years in Turkish naval tradition, it is possible to see similar traces. Turkish dominance of the Mediterranean was largely based on maneuverability rather than firepower.
He also adds that new Amphibious Assault Ships (maybe Landing Ships?) are in the queue. I'm not quite sure if this is a reference to the acquisition of older LSTs, or if it's a reference to additional ships.
Besides, there are other crucial vessels that TN falls in the need of;
- Next Generation Mine hunter vessel
- Research Vessel (Hydrographic Survey)
- Ocean-going tug
- Additional RAT Vessel (Multi-purpose OSV)
For the third and fourth planned LST ships, I am of the opinion that the existing Bayraktar class LSTs should be largely modified to have hangars for more than one heavy duty helicopter. In fact, I think these next ships could be a multi-role logistics and multi-function support ship, closer to the LPD approach, rather than an LST.