What Is the Yonca MRTP 24/U? Turkey’s High-Speed SAT Commando Boat Explained

When Turkish Navy commandos need to reach a target quietly, quickly and with firepower to spare, they board the MRTP 24/U. Delivered to the Turkish Naval Forces Command on 23 August, Yonca Shipyard’s SAT boat combines a 54-knot sprint speed, low radar signature and a 16-commando insertion capacity in a 26.3-metre composite hull. This is an inside look at the vessel and what it brings to Turkey’s special maritime operations.

What is the MRTP 24/U?

The MRTP 24/U is the special-operations variant of Yonca Shipyard’s 24-metre-class Multi Role Tactical Platform. The suffix “U” stands for upgraded. The baseline MRTP 24 hull has been hardened with special-forces insertion, covert approach and unmanned-system integration capabilities to serve Turkey’s SAT (Su Altı Taarruz — Underwater Attack) commandos.

Two units were delivered to the Turkish Naval Forces Command alongside eight MRTP 12 fast patrol boats. The MRTP 24/U is, according to open sources, now the primary transport and support platform for Turkish Navy SAT units.

What does it do?

Personnel insertion: carries 5 crew plus 16 SAT commandos and 2 landing craft simultaneously.
Covert approach: low radar cross-section (RCS) design allows the boat to close a target area with reduced detectability.
Fire support: ASELSAN 25 mm stabilised turret and Kale 40 mm grenade launcher provide pre- and post-insertion covering fire.
ISR relay: on-board imagery capture and real-time transmission from the operation area.
Rapid egress: 54-knot maximum speed and 500 nm range provide strategic reach.

Technical specifications

Parameter	Value
Length	26.3 m
Max speed	54 knots (~100 km/h)
Range	500 nm
Crew	5
Payload	16 SAT commandos + 2 landing craft
Primary weapon	ASELSAN 25 mm stabilised turret
Secondary weapon	Kale 40 mm grenade launcher
Signature management	Low RCS design
Hull material	Advanced composite
ISR	Imagery capture and real-time transmission

Domestic integration

The MRTP 24/U is a textbook example of Turkish defence industry stacking: Yonca hull, ASELSAN gun, Kale weapon station. Every major component originates from a Turkish company. This integration reduces lifecycle cost, simplifies logistics and removes a foreign-supply dependency at one of the most operationally sensitive points — the platform that carries special-forces operators into harm’s way.

Global peers

High-speed special-forces transport craft have become standard equipment across NATO navies. Notable platforms in the same category, per open sources:

SHALDAG MK.V (Israel, IAI) — Israeli naval commando primary platform
SAFE Boats CB 1250 / Defiant (USA) — US Navy and SOCOM
CMN Combattante FS 56 (France)
Willard RIB series (USA)

The MRTP 24/U’s low-RCS design combined with real-time imagery relay aligns with what NATO special operations doctrine demands of an insertion platform in the 2020s.

Export outlook

Yonca’s existing export franchise — 10 countries, 14 organisations — provides the distribution network. The MRTP 24/U’s delivery to the Turkish Navy now adds the most valuable tag in the export catalogue: in service with a NATO special-forces unit. No confirmed MRTP 24/U export order has appeared in open sources to date.

Assessment

The MRTP 24/U slots into a critical and rarely discussed position: the vessel that carries the commando to the objective and gets him out again. Low signature, high speed, heavy armament and real-time data relay — it checks every box. And it does so with an all-Turkish component stack, making it one of the cleaner examples of Turkey’s growing ability to deliver an integrated special-operations platform without foreign dependency.