Ukraine intends to seriously strengthen its maritime capabilities with the help of Turkey
Military cooperation between Ankara and Kyiv is developing more and more actively, and the memorandum on defense-technical cooperation signed in October 2020 is being implemented in specific projects.
Nezavisimaya Gazeta writes about this, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
Thus, the other day in Kyiv, the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Andrei Taran and the President of the Directorate of Defense Industry of Turkey Ismail Demir (see behind the photo) agreed on the joint production of corvettes and attack drones.
“After signing the agreement in Kyiv, Turkey and Ukraine will also jointly build Ada-class corvettes. In this case, modifications are possible. Most likely, their joint ship models will use Ukrainian gas turbine engines as a power plant, which previously, until 2014, were installed on Russian corvettes and frigates. And instead of the Harpoon anti-ship missile system, Ukraine can install Neptune cruise missiles on ships, which are capable of hitting targets at a range of up to 300 km. The Ukrainian army, as you know, recently adopted these formidable weapons and organized their production,” says military expert, reserve colonel Shamil Gareev.
However, he notes that problems may arise with the possibility of such construction at Ukrainian shipyards.
“After Crimea became part of Russia, there were only three shipyards left on the territory of Ukraine where it was possible to build warships. At the Kyiv shipyards at the Kuznitsa na Rybalsky plant, it is theoretically possible to build combat boats and small missile ships. There are shipyards in Nikolaev, this is the Black Sea Shipyard, where aircraft-carrying cruisers were built during Soviet times. But now the plant is bankrupt and does not produce marine products,” the expert points out.
He believes that most likely the construction of corvettes will probably be organized at the Nikolaev Shipyard.
“There is now an unfinished missile cruiser “Ukraine” there, which is formally part of the country’s Navy. With Turkish participation, it can also, apparently, be completed,” Gareev does not rule out.
He points out that the construction of one Ada-class corvette has been going on for two years, and at least another year is needed to put it into service. Thus, the replenishment of the Ukrainian Navy with new corvettes can be expected in three years, Gareev predicts.
“There is no doubt that with the participation of Turkey, Ukraine will significantly strengthen the combat power of its armed forces, including the Navy. Given the militant slogans heard in Kyiv, this is an alarming signal. And it must be taken into account when organizing national defense not only in Crimea, but also in other regions of the Russian Federation,” says another military expert, reserve lieutenant colonel Alexander Ovchinnikov, in turn.
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