Turkish, German firms eye Indonesian sub contract

U-214 Cutaway ★

Turkish and German naval specialists signed May 10 a letter of intent to cooperate on a contract to build variant of the Type-214 diesel-electric submarines for the Indonesian Navy.

The deal was signed at the IDEF’17 defense and aerospace exhibition in Istanbul between STM, a Turkish government-controlled defense engineering company and Germany’s ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems.

“We are bringing together our resources with the aim of designing and constructing submarines for Indonesia,” STM and TKMS official said during a ceremony.

Through the joint venture with STM, TKMS is partnering with Turkey’s Golcuk shipyard, the production site for the Piri Reis, the first of a batch of six Type-214 submarines being built for the Turkish Navy. The Type 214 is a derivation of the Type-209 SSK built by Germany’s Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft, or HDW. The Type-214 features design innovations from the HDW Type-212. It displaces 1,700 tons (surface) and has eight torpedo tubes which can deploy heavyweight torpedoes — such as the Atlas Elektronik SeaHake — and anti-ship missiles, such as the Harpoon and Exocet.

Under a contract worth €2.5 billion (U.S. $2.7 billion), six Type-214 submarines are being built for the Turkish Navy. Some of the subsystems will be locally built.

For instance, Turkish military electronics specialist Aselsan, a government-controlled company, will provide electronic support measures and sensor systems for the submarine program. Military software specialist Havelsan, another government-controlled company, will build an integrated command and control suite.

  ♞ Defensenews