Türkiye, Egypt Weigh Joint Warship Construction Under the MİLGEM Program
Türkiye’s Naval Forces Commander, Admiral Ercüment Tatlıoğlu, said Türkiye aims to launch joint warship construction with Egypt under the MİLGEM national corvette program. The remark came during the distinguished observer day of the “Friendship Sea-2026” exercise off Alexandria on November 9.
What Was Said
According to Hürriyet Daily News and Türkiye Today, Tatlıoğlu told the gathered delegations that Ankara wants to bring maritime defense-industry cooperation with Cairo “to a more advanced stage,” including joint shipbuilding under the MİLGEM Project, modeled on Türkiye’s existing cooperation with Pakistan. He added that the approach would turn the naval relationship into “a more comprehensive and lasting partnership.” The admiral also referenced cooperation on unmanned aerial and surface vehicles, joint use of Turkish-made missiles, torpedoes and mines, and the sharing of Turkish mine-warfare expertise. No contract, hull count or budget figure has been disclosed; the statement is a declared aim, not a signed deal.
The Pakistan Precedent
The model Tatlıoğlu pointed to dates back to a 2018 agreement between Pakistan’s Ministry of Defence Production and Turkish state defense holding ASFAT. That contract delivered four MİLGEM-derived Babur-class corvettes to the Pakistan Navy, alongside spare parts, crew training, ammunition packages and a substantial transfer of technology. It stands as one of the largest single warship export agreements in the history of the Turkish Republic, with the fourth and final corvette handed over between 2023 and 2025. Whether an Egyptian program would match that scale, or instead start with a smaller pilot batch, remains an open question that will depend on Cairo’s existing shipyard capacity and its parallel relationships with French (Gowind-class) and Italian suppliers.
The Exercise Behind the Statement
Friendship Sea-2026 (Bahr El-Sadaka) ran off Alexandria from November 4 to 9, marking the second joint drill since the two navies resumed exercising together in 2025 after a 13-year gap. Türkiye deployed the amphibious assault ship TCG Anadolu, the frigate TCG Gaziantep, the fast attack craft TCG Meltem, two SH-70 helicopters, three AH-1W attack helicopters and three Bayraktar TB3 unmanned combat aircraft. Egypt fielded the multipurpose amphibious ship Gamal Abdel Nasser along with the M. Fahmy, El Fateh, Fouad Zekry, El Farouk and El-Arish. The program covered surface warfare, anti-submarine operations, air defense and underwater assault training.
Diplomatic Backdrop
Turkish-Egyptian ties, frozen after the 2013 political rupture, resumed in 2021, reached ambassador level in 2023, and advanced further with President Erdoğan’s 2024 visit to Cairo. In September 2024, Turkish state manufacturer MKE signed a defense-industry memorandum of understanding with Egypt; in September 2026, Egypt inducted its first US-supplied CH-47F Chinook helicopters. In late October, the frigates TCG Gökçeada and TCG Yıldırım transited the area as part of an international mission off Somalia. Tatlıoğlu’s MİLGEM remark reads as the clearest industrial expression yet of this gradual military rapprochement.
Why It Matters
The MİLGEM family was launched in the early 2000s to meet the Turkish Navy’s own corvette needs before becoming an export product through deals with Pakistan and interest from Ukraine. If realized, a joint program with Egypt would become Ankara’s second major co-production corvette partnership after Pakistan, with direct implications for the naval balance in the Eastern Mediterranean. Analysts frame Ankara’s bilateral outreach to Cairo as a deliberate effort to keep Egypt outside the Israel-Greece-Cyprus axis that has taken shape in the region. For now, though, this remains a stated intention awaiting formal negotiations between the two defense ministries before any framework agreement takes shape.
Sources
- Hürriyet Daily News, “Türkiye, Egypt eye joint warship construction,” November 10, 2026 — used for the content and date of Tatlıoğlu’s statement and the Pakistan precedent: hurriyetdailynews.com
- Türkiye Today, “Türkiye eyes MİLGEM-style joint warship building with Egypt, navy chief says,” November 9, 2026 — used for exercise participant details and additional remarks by the admiral: turkiyetoday.com
- Envanter Medya, “Friendship Sea-2026 Exercise Concludes off Alexandria,” November 9, 2026 — used for the chronology of Turkish-Egyptian diplomatic and military rapprochement: envantermedya.com
