The Istif-class is a true milestone that has proven the maturity of the Turkish naval industry. However, if we want to become a true and fully independent blue-water navy, instead of simply extending the current design to create the Istif Batch-II after completing the production of eight units, we should move toward a new frigate design. This platform should have a displacement of around 5,000 metric tons, featuring a wider beam to offer seakeeping and endurance comparable to the TF-2000 air defense destroyers, along with a minimum VLS capacity of 32 cells. Although it may not be apparent right now, in about 10 years it will become clear that this is just as critical a need as the TF-2000 class.
Unlike the TF-2000, its propulsion system, acoustic isolation, and hull engineering must be designed with a direct focus on the Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) role. This frigate should be equipped with a Thales Sonar 2087-equivalent heavy towed array sonar, a state-of-the-art hull-mounted sonar, hangar space for at least two helicopters, and advanced countermeasure and Anti-Torpedo Torpedo (ATT) capabilities. The expertise in system maturation that our domestic defense industry has attained in ASW naval systems has, in fact, paved the way for us to develop and produce one of the world’s most advanced ASW combatant platforms. The biggest obstacle to the development of such a heavy-class ASW frigate is already on the verge of being overcome.
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Türkiye aims to establish a Blue-water Navy capable of maintaining a presence and conducting active operations at 2–3 distant naval bases simultaneously, while focusing on transoceanic missions with one massive or two medium-sized task forces. Lighter platforms in this structure will seek to protect territorial waters by transforming the 'Blue Homeland' (the Aegean, Mediterranean, and Black Seas) into an Anti-Access/Area Denial (A2/AD) zone. This will allow heavy-tonnage, high-endurance platforms to serve the nation’s interests in distant maritime regions without leaving the homeland vulnerable.
The high volume of platforms is a logistical necessity dictated by rotational dynamics and geographical dispersion. Operating simultaneously across the Blue Homeland and distant oceans requires a deep operational reserve, ensuring that intensive deployment schedules, long transit times, and mandatory dry-dock maintenance periods do not deplete the homeland's defensive posture. Consequently, this allows the Navy to absorb the high wear-and-tear of transoceanic missions without creating security vacuums in its immediate maritime domain. This extensive fleet structure is driven by strict naval logistical realities, specifically the 'Rule of Three' in maritime operations. To maintain a continuous, active presence at 2–3 distant naval bases and sustain transoceanic task forces, a significant multiplier of platforms is required; for every ship actively deployed, at least two others must be either undergoing scheduled maintenance/overhaul or engaged in working-up training cycles.
The proposed Combatant + Patrol Fleet structure for late 2030s as follows:
- 16 Coastal Patrol Vessels: (Tuzla-class – sensor capabilities enhanced post-MLU, focusing on Manned-Unmanned Teaming and self-defense)
- 10 MCMVs / Patrol Vessels: (Aydın-class / New-type Mine Countermeasures Vessels)
- 16 Fast Attack Craft / Fast Corvettes: (New-type FAC and Kılıç-II)
- 14 Corvettes: (Ada-class, Hisar-class)
- 8 Istif-class frigates: (The fleet's multi-role workhorses)
- 8 Frigates: (The proposed new-generation 5,000-ton heavy ASW program - and Barbaros-class which will gradually change with this class in the future)
- 6 Destroyers: (Tepe class anti-air warfare guided-missile destroyer, the plan of 8 units can be reduced to 6 in the first stage, for allowing 4 additional frigates)
- 12 AIP Submarines: (Reis-class and MİLDEN-Ay-class)
- 10+ Conventional Diesel Submarines: (Gür-class, Preveze-class in less, and newly developed pocket/midget submarines)
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