Turkish Navy launched first indigenous Type-214 AIP Submarine

Turkish state-owned Golcuk Naval Shipyard formally launched the first Type 214TN AIP submarine for Turkish Naval Forces Command on 22 December.

The boat will be delivered to the Turkish Navy in 2020. TCG Piri Reis is the first of six Reis-class submarines being locally built with the support of TKMS.

In total, six boats will be constructed for the Turkish Navy.

“Today, we gathered here for the docking of Piri Reis. As of 2020, a submarine will go into service each year. By 2027, all six of our submarines will be at our seas for service,” President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said during a speech at the ceremony. “Our aim is to promptly actualize our national submarine project.”

“With the policies our country follows, we seek establishment of rights, which have been delayed. The works we carry out in the eastern Mediterranean, Syria and Libya are in this context,” Erdoğan added.

During the ceremony, the first weld of TCG Seydi Ali Reis was also carried out.

TCG Piri Reis, the first vessel of Turkey’s New Type Submarine Project, is planned to start operating in 2020. The project, carried out by the Undersecretariat for Defence Industries, will add a total of six vessels to the Turkish Navy’s inventory.

The Type 214 class vessels are regarded as a first for the Turkish Navy due to its air-independent propulsion characteristics brought by their fuel cell technology. The vessels also can deploy heavyweight torpedoes and anti-ship missiles and lay mines against targets, both at sea and on the ground.

Apart from Piri Reis, five more vessels of the project are expected to hit the seas by 2027, providing an upper hand to Turkish naval forces.

As Piri Reis was deployed to the sea, the project’s second submarine Hızırreis’ outfitting and two vessels’ hull production phases are ongoing.