First Hisar-class offshore patrol vessel was presented in Turkey

9 July, 2023 TCG Akhisar (P-1220), lead ship of the Hisar-class OPV project. Source: ASFAT The Turkish Navy's first Hisar-class offshore patrol vessel is ready for launch.

Defense Turk reported on this. The Hisar-class project's lead ship was spotted at the Istanbul Naval Shipyard. The vessel was named Akhisar (P-1220).

Emre Koray Gencsoy, the Naval Programs Director of ASFAT (the main project contractor), shared the photos of the future TCG Akhisar and stated that the ship was ready for the launch ceremony. "Only 15 months after the steel-cutting, TCG Akhisar, with most of its equipment fitted and its power system ready, awaits the launching ceremony," the Naval Programs Director of ASFAT noted.

Hisar-class offshore patrol vessel. Source: ASFAT

The steel-cutting ceremony of the OPV took place on August 15, 2021, and a scale model of the ship was first exhibited at the IDEF 2021 expo in Istanbul between August 17 and 21, 2021.

In April 2022, the construction of the first vessel was announced. The plan is to build a total of 10 ships for this project.

Hisar

Vessels of the Hisar class are classified as OPVs (Offshore Patrol Vessels). These are vessels designed to patrol and protect offshore zones (coastal waters).

The primary missions of the OPVs to be built are intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR), search and rescue (SAR), counterterrorism, maritime interdiction operations (MIO), and maritime special operations. The Hisar class is developed on the basis of the Ada-class corvettes of the MILGEM project. The main difference lies in the different layout and use of the CODELOD (Combined Diesel-eLectric Or Diesel) main propulsion system.

Conceptual image of a Hisar-class vessel.

Source: ASFAT

The new layout makes the ship cheaper and increases the speed of construction. The Ministry of Defense of Turkey previously reported that the ship would be equipped according to the principle "with equipment, but not with weapons", so it is not yet clear how exactly the ship will be armed. However, the concept shows the ship equipped with atypical weapons for this class, likely consisting of ATMACA or CAKIR anti-ship missiles.

According to the concept, the ship will be equipped with a vertical launch system to launch surface-to-air missiles. The gun systems are represented by the Gokdeniz close-in weapon system and the 76 mm gun. Hisar-class ships are slightly smaller in size than Ada-type corvettes.

Their length is the same - 99.56 meters. The beam of Hisar is 14.42 meters, the draft is 3.77 meters, and the displacement is 2300 tons. Patrol vessels will have a greater range of 4,500 nautical miles.

Hisar also has other radars and sonars.