Milgem - National Warship / Milli Gemi - is (was) a project that aims to gain capabilities and self-sufficiency in the following areas that can be said to be critical within the framework of flotilla design.
- Design attributes of a warship - advanced simulations for signature and survivability
- Concept of a warship
- Design verification of a warship
- Warship software development
- Warship production and maintenance plans and exercises
The project was born in the 70s, without being named or called as such, with the question of a ruling admiral, "Could we design a corvette of our own, tailor-made for us, made by us?" and then came back to the office or to the minds and debates again and again, but was abandoned for various reasons. Finally, at the end of the 1990s, the project was solidified with the aim of first developing a corvette that would meet the needs of the Turkish Navy and fulfil its future doctrine, equipped with the most advanced weapons and sensors with maximum local content. The programme, although referred to the Ada class - being the first output of the project - in fact had several phases and beyond what is achieved in the Ada class.
- Design and construction of a corvette, called the Ada class.
- Design and construction of a frigate to fulfil air defence duties in the post-2000, new millennium, named as TF-2000.
- Design and construction of a frigate equipped with advanced weapons and sensors with future projection, named TF-100.
The history of the TF-2000 project, the frigate then -- destroyer now chapter will be treated separately in a new thread.
Before going any further, it is best to introduce actors within the Turkish Navy that play an important role in the design and construction of the national warships, which are referred to as;
Advisory Board, the place where the Navy's doctrine and requirements for warships are shaped.
- ArmerKom, Araştırma Merkezi Komutanlığı - Research and Development Centre Command, the place where requirements are transformed into basic concepts.
- DPO, Dizayn Proje Ofisi - Design Project Office, the place where the concepts become reality, where the contract phase is handled and the project is supervised.
- PKO, Proje Kontrol Ofisi - Project Control Office, the place where outsourced projects are managed.
- Tersane Komutanlığı - Shipyards Command, the place where ships are built, also being the umbrella institution for DPO and PKO, the shipyards to be mentioned are Istanbul Tersane Komutanlığı (Pendik Naval Shipyard), Gölcük Tersane Komutanlığı (Gölcük Naval Shipyard) and İzmir Tersane Komutanlığı (İzmir, Alaybey Naval Shipyard).
To add another layer of complexity, the MSB - the Ministry of Defence - has set up a company called ASFAT, which can privately manage the military shipyards, while the SSB owns a company called STM, which is the contractor for several projects under construction or design. For now, we can ignore the latest complexities and focus on the beauty; the TF-2000.
As already mentioned, the project started with the aim of creating a design that would be able to fulfil air defence tasks with the most advanced technological equipment. The first designs share a common architecture as seen in European air defence frigates (FFG-AAW), with a fixed face Active Phase Array Radar (APAR) and a rotating face early warning radar configured in low band and 32-48 VLS, from the pictures we can guess the first designs has aimed to have Thales sensor suite. But later the project has developed in a strange phase where foreign contribution is approved and Lockheed Martin and BAE of the UK have made offers, while LM has gone along with the Turkish request for integration of Turkish subsystems into the Aegis command and weapon management system, BAE has offered a simple design along with "partnership" on what is called Global Combat Ship. Meanwhile, Armerkom and DPO have been carrying out design studies that have finally resulted in what we have seen at IDEF'19.
What we can call as a first concept, an APAR radar accompanied by an early warning radar. It is safe to assume that these were in S and L band respectively, along with 2x RIM-116 launchers and 48 cell VLS is present for a combination of SM2 and ESSM.
Image source: Savunma ve Havacılık magazine, #161
Another design emerged around the same time, suggesting a conceptual study was underway, with a similar but slightly different configuration, a different suite of sensors, and 32 VLS (probably with another 32 placed elsewhere) and Phalanx CIWS instead of RIM-116 launchers. It is also the first design to officially include the CAFRAD, the multipurpose AESA radar suite being developed by Aselsan, accompanied by an early warning radar similar to the Thales SMART-L.
This is one of the following options, all studied by ArmerKom, DPO and Aselsan: one of them was a fully integrated mast similar to the Spanish F-110.
There were also several alternatives for the use of the CAFRAD, as shown above, beyond which we can see that the foreign subsystems begin to diminish as Turkish manufacturers now offer a variety of weapons and sensors. The first mature concept had the following characteristics:
- A distributed radar system for long-range air search and illumination to increase survivability.
- Change from rotating face radar to fixed face radar for long-range search, also from L- and S-band to S- and X-band.
- Introduction of national IFF and ESM
- A flexible design with the introduction of a flexible bay that can accommodate an additional payload from either helicopters, RHIBs, USVs or containers.
- EOTS and X-band satellite communications system.
- 64 VLS in 32 + 32 configuration
- 2 gun based CIWS, the same design has been applied with 2x Millenium gun then with 2x Phalanx.
- In last IDEF, held in August 2021, the final form of TF-2000 has been present,
In addition to the previous design we can see further:
- Nazar DIRCM will be added to the design, 2 as; one on the front and one on the rear, increasing the simultaneous CIWS capability to 4. Nazar DIRCM is a soft kill system that uses directed laser to eliminate the imaging seekers of incoming missiles and laser EO to target components of the missile threats, alternatively it can jam swarm attacks and directed laser can be used to eliminate soft shell threats at a range of 4+ km. The blind range for IR and EO seekers is currently unknown. The system can blind the full range of the spectrum used by various missiles.
- The National VLS (MIDLAS), which houses SIPER, Hisar-RF (or G40) in quad-packs, Hisar-U and, surprisingly, the Gezgin cruise missile, is officially included in the brochure. The Navy is thinking ahead and has already planned the deployment of Gezgin.
- The mast has been refreshed, CAFRAD's CFR module has been raised to improve visibility and scan closer to the hull, EOTS has been increased from 1 to 3-4, and X-band communications capacity has been increased and placed on top of the mast, implying a strong 'network enabled warfare' capability.
- The exhaust system has been reworked, but the propulsion system remains the same as CODOG.
- One small detail that seems to have been overlooked by many is that the new "APU" (Auxiliary Propulsion Unit) may be a retractable azimuth system used in place of the bow thruster to allow emergency manoeuvres, increasing sonar and hydrodynamic performance during cruising. In addition, the system will provide limited dynamic positioning capabilities in conditions requiring open-sea positioning (COIN and humanitarian missions). The APU will also enable unattended approaches to ports, maximising survivability in an emergency.
- Towed array - VDS and hull mounted sonar.
- Communication V(U)-HF ED/EC module
- Radar ESM and dedicated electronic warfare suite.
- UMTAS launchers (2), now conceptually available, we can expect a multi-rack launcher capable of firing 8+ missiles per launcher.
- 4 x 25 mm RCWS, as opposed to 2 in the past, with 2 additional positions available through the optional use of Umtas launchers.
3-view of TF-2000
TF-2000 further introduces;
TF-2000 further introduces;
- A flexible mission bay capable of carrying: 10 TEU containers, 4 RHIBs, 1 15 tonne medium lift helicopter (2 x 10 tonne, plus multiple UAVs depending on size and weight).
- Unrestricted operation in Sea State 5, partially in 6 and 7. Survivability not specified.
- 130-150 crew, with additional facilities for up to 200 personnel. Indication that there will be flexible missions including use of SOF teams (through use of swimmer delivery vehicle or advanced RHIB), USV and UUV teams, aviation teams (UAV and helicopter).
- 45 days endurance (excluding refuelling)
- 5000 hour maintenance interval equivalent to 210 days, with a further target of 300+ days.
- 180 days of uninterrupted operations without reliance on major bases.
- 4 RHIB stations capable of deploying up to 8 RHIB/USVs (4 optional in Flexible Mission Bay - FMB)
- Multi-role operations ranging from ASW, AAW, ASuW to counter-insurgency and piracy, flotilla/base protection and humanitarian missions.
The article ends with a nice view of the weapons and sensor configuration:
Footnotes:
meet auxillary propulsion unit - retractable azimuth here: https://www.zf.com/products/en/marine/products_29102.html
meet NAZAR DIRCM here; https://defencehub.live/threads/idef-2021-news-discussion-updates.6779/post-107077
meet various missile programmes here; https://defencehub.live/threads/turkish-missile-smart-munition-programs.334/page-104#post-110354
meet air-defense systems here; https://defencehub.live/threads/turkish-air-defence-programs.65/page-47
meet various sensors here; https://defencehub.live/threads/turkish-sensors-and-detector-programs.340/page-24
Footnotes:
meet auxillary propulsion unit - retractable azimuth here: https://www.zf.com/products/en/marine/products_29102.html
meet NAZAR DIRCM here; https://defencehub.live/threads/idef-2021-news-discussion-updates.6779/post-107077
meet various missile programmes here; https://defencehub.live/threads/turkish-missile-smart-munition-programs.334/page-104#post-110354
meet air-defense systems here; https://defencehub.live/threads/turkish-air-defence-programs.65/page-47
meet various sensors here; https://defencehub.live/threads/turkish-sensors-and-detector-programs.340/page-24
