MKE’s 127mm Denizhan Gun Fires Test Rounds From TCG Fatih
Turkish state manufacturer Makina ve Kimya Endüstrisi (MKE) has moved into a new phase of firing trials for the Denizhan-127, a 127mm, 54-caliber naval gun being developed for the planned TF-2000 air-defense destroyer. According to Infodefensa, which visited MKE’s facilities near Ankara, production of the weapon is nearing its final stages, but development and testing are not yet complete, and the company has not given a date for finishing the test campaign.
The trials are running through a test rig aboard the Yavuz-class frigate TCG Fatih. The developmental gun barrel was fitted into a BAE Systems Mk 45 mount already installed on the ship, which serves as a floating test bed for validating and integrating weapons developed by Turkish industry. Defensa.com, which covered the firing, reported that the test shots were carried out successfully, though that does not mean the full weapon system’s trials are complete.
The Denizhan-127 is effectively a scaled-up version of the Denizhan-76, a 76/62mm gun already in service with the Turkish Navy and exported to Indonesia. MKE plans to assemble the larger gun at the same Mamak complex in Ankara where it integrates the 76mm system, and reports point to a dedicated facility built there to expand production capacity. The barrel itself is manufactured at MKE’s Heavy Weapons Factory before going through several further stages ahead of integration.
A 127mm bore is the standard heavy naval gun caliber among major navies, with the US Navy’s Mk 45 and the Italian/French-origin OTO Melara 127mm among the best-known examples. Compared with 76mm systems, a gun in this class can deliver naval gunfire support at longer range against both land and surface targets. Developing one domestically would place Türkiye among a small group of countries capable of building their own heavy naval gun, a club long dominated by industry in the United States, Italy and France.
The gun’s intended platform, TF-2000, is meant to be Türkiye’s first dedicated air-defense destroyer, with state-owned Asfat as prime contractor. EDR Magazine has estimated first delivery around 2031, though that figure is a projection that depends on how the wider program and its various subsystems’ test schedules progress. Completing the Denizhan-127 is only one of several components feeding into that larger shipbuilding effort.
Turning a gun of this caliber from a developmental prototype into a fielded weapon typically involves years of further engineering and testing, covering barrel life, recoil handling, automatic loading and compatibility across different ammunition types. With MKE declining to commit to a finish date, exactly when the Denizhan-127 might reach serial production remains unclear. Even so, the localization success and export record of the smaller Denizhan-76 point to a continuing strategy at MKE to bring medium- and heavy-caliber naval gun production in-house.
Sources:
Infodefensa, “La empresa turca MKE ultima el desarrollo de su cañón naval Denizhan-127 para el futuro destructor antiaéreo TF-2000,” October 25, 2026, infodefensa.com — primary source, based on a site visit to MKE.
Defensa.com, “Disparo con éxito del cañón naval de 127 mm de MKE a bordo de la fragata TCG Fatih,” defensa.com — confirms firing-test details.
