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On October 2, the first of four Ada-class anti-submarine corvettes laid down for the Ukrainian Navy was floated out in Turkey.
The corvette named after Hetman Ivan Mazepa, a Ukrainian Cossack leader from the turn of the 17th century, hit the water at the ceremony led by the First Lady of Ukraine, Olena Zelenska.
This is the first of four ships built by Turkey at the RMK Marine shipyard for the Ukrainian Navy.
“Today in Turkey, I had the honor of launching a corvette that will serve Ukraine and at the same time have a Turkish heart. Ada-class corvette Hetman Ivan Mazepa will be the first ship of this class for the Ukrainian Navy,” Zelenska wrote in a social media post.
Ukrainian defense minister Oleksii Reznikov hopes that Hetman Ivan Mazepa will be homeported in Sevastopol, a Crimean port city on the Black Sea.
The tonnage of Ada—class corvettes is over 2.4 thousand tons, the maximum speed is 29 knots, and the cruising range is 3.5 thousand miles. The ships are equipped with a hangar for a helicopter or unmanned systems, and a deck platform for the departure and landing of aircraft. The corvettes are equipped with eight Harpoon anti-ship missiles, torpedo tubes for 324 mm torpedo tubes for 324 mm Mk.32 or Mk.46 torpedo tubes, a torpedo protection system, a 76-mm Oto Melara Super Rapid artillery mount, as well as anti-aircraft missiles in the form of RIM 116 PU Mk 49 RAM.
The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine has previously claimed that the corvettes for the Ukrainian Navy will be equipped with Harpoon anti-ship missiles. The air defense means will include French anti-aircraft missile systems VL MIKA. Close-in weapon systems Oerlikon Millennium Guns with a caliber of 35 mm designed by Rheinmetall Air Defence AG should also be installed on the ships.
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Kiev and Ankara signed an agreement on the construction of two corvettes for the Ukrainian Navy in 2021, at the same time the construction of the first ship began. Ukraine decided to strengthen its navy with Turkey’s MILGEM (National Ship) Ada-class corvettes.
MILGEM project is a national warship program of the Republic of Turkey. Managed by the Turkish Navy, the project aims at developing multipurpose corvettes and frigates that can be deployed in a range of missions, including reconnaissance, surveillance, early warning, anti-submarine warfare, surface-to-surface and surface-to-air warfare, and amphibious operations.
As of 2018, the MILGEM project covers four Ada class anti-submarine warfare corvettes and one ELINT corvette, four Istanbul class multipurpose frigates and TF2000 class anti-air warfare destroyers destined for the Turkish Navy, four Jinnah-class frigates for the Pakistan Navy.
While the first ship is built in Turkey, Ukraine expected to build follow-on ships at the Okean (Ocean) Shipyard in Mykolaiv, a plan likely to be complicated by the Russian invasion in Ukraine which began in February.
According to some reports, Turkish ships should enter the fleet not earlier than 2025-2030.
