What Indigenous Systems Are Aboard Turkish Warships? Blue Homeland’s Indigenous Power
Turkish warships increasingly carry combat systems built at home. Radars, sonars, electronic warfare suites, combat management systems and anti-ship missiles aboard Turkey’s newest frigates, amphibious ships and unmanned surface vessels are now largely supplied by ASELSAN, HAVELSAN, ROKETSAN and MKE, under programmes managed by the Presidency of Defence Industries (SSB). This is a platform-by-platform look at what’s actually indigenous — and what isn’t.
How many warships is Turkey building at once?
Turkish Naval Forces Commander Admiral Ercüment Tatlıoğlu, speaking at the TEKNOFEST Mavi Vatan opening at Gölcük Naval Shipyard Command (20-23 August 2026), stated: “As of today we are simultaneously building more than 50 warships — 37 for the Turkish Naval Forces and 24 for foreign navies.” That is a combined total of 61, per the original quote carried by Anadolu Agency. A widely circulated figure of “71” does not match this original statement and traces to a single unverified secondary source — we do not use it. A separate April 2026 statement put the domestic-only figure at 41 ships under construction, expected to rise toward 50.
Who does what: SSB, shipyards, and system suppliers
The Presidency of Defence Industries (SSB) is the contracting authority and project coordinator — it does not build ships itself. Prime contractor shipyards (STM, SEDEF, Sefine, Anadolu Deniz İnşaat Kızakları, Dearsan, RMK Marine) build and integrate the hulls; system houses (ASELSAN, HAVELSAN, ROKETSAN, MKE) supply the radars, missiles, sonars and combat management software. Attributing a system directly to “SSB” rather than the company that built it is a common but inaccurate shorthand we avoid.
MİLGEM / Istif-class frigates
The lead ship of the new Istif-class, TCG Istanbul (F-515), delivered 19 January 2024, carries the widest indigenous system set in the fleet: ASELSAN’s CENK 400-N search radar, ALPER LPI radar, AHTAPOT electro-optical director and FERSAH sonar, HAVELSAN’s ADVENT combat management system, and ROKETSAN’s ATMACA anti-ship missile and HİSAR-D air-defence missile (fired from the MİDLAS vertical launch system — Istanbul also test-fired the longer-range SİPER-1D from the same launcher in September 2025). Follow-on ships from TCG İçel onward add MKE’s indigenous DENİZHAN 76mm gun. Older Ada-class corvettes carry fewer indigenous systems — the fleet’s most foreign-dependent items (main gun, RAM point-defence, Harpoon missiles) are being phased out as newer hulls enter service.
TCG Anadolu
TCG Anadolu (L-400), the Turkish Navy’s largest platform, built by SEDEF Shipyard and delivered 10 April 2023, carries ASELSAN’s PIRI infrared search and AHTAPOT electro-optical systems and ARMELSAN’s ARAS-2023 diver-detection sonar; its primary air/surface radars and Phalanx close-in weapon system remain foreign-sourced. Its most closely watched capability is operating the Bayraktar TB3 UCAV from the ramp: after first landings in November 2024, on-deck sorties passed 100 during 2025, and in February 2026 a TB3 launched from Anadolu struck a maritime target with a MAM-L munition during NATO’s Steadfast Dart exercise in the Baltic — before returning to the ship, a first for a carrier-launched Turkish UCAV in a NATO drill.
Sources
SSB (ssb.gov.tr); ASELSAN, HAVELSAN, ROKETSAN, MKE product pages; STM, SEDEF, Sefine Shipyard press releases; Anadolu Agency, Naval News, Defense News, Janes, Shephard. Photos: Wikimedia Commons, CC BY / CC BY-SA, credited individually.
