The Turkish Navy commissions its newest surface combatant while the Brazilian Navy welcomes a locally-built submarine into service. A fast transport with a range of onboard medical facilities is handed over to the US Navy. Finally, a Taiwanese yard starts construction of a light frigate for anti-submarine missions.
Turkish Navy commissions lead ship of new frigate class
The Turkish Navy recently commissioned a new frigate into service.
TCG Istanbul is also the lead ship of the Istanbul-class frigates, which belong to the MILGEM warship family developed by the Turkish government. Construction was undertaken jointly by Istanbul Naval Shipyard and STM Defence.
The frigate will be used for anti-surface warfare, anti-air warfare, and anti-submarine warfare as well as secondary roles including reconnaissance, surveillance, target detection, identification, recognition, and early warning.
Brazilian Navy welcomes locally-built submarine into service
The Brazilian Navy has commissioned the second example in a new class of four diesel-electric submarines to be built by local shipyard Itaguaí Construções Navais (ICN).
Like its Riachuelo-class sisters, Humaita is a variant of the Scorpene-class boats originally developed by French shipbuilder the Naval Group.
One improvement of the Riachuelo-class submarines over the standard Scorpenes is their slightly greater length to accommodate more crewmembers, fuel, and food provisions. This will then enable the Brazilian boats to patrol for longer periods and cover greater distances.
US Navy takes delivery of 14th Spearhead-class fast transport
The US Navy has taken delivery of a new Spearhead-class expeditionary fast transport (EPF) built by Austal USA.
USNS Cody is the fourteenth in the Spearhead-class as well as the first US Navy vessel to be named in honour of the city of Cody, Wyoming.
The vessel is a Flight II variant of the Spearhead-class transports. The main distinguishing attributes of the Flight II EPFs will be their enhanced medical capabilities, which will enable them to operate as high-speed vessels to complement the navy's larger hospital ships.
The Flight II EPF variants also have the added capability to support V-22 Osprey flight operations and launch and recover 11-metre rigid inflatable boats (RIBs).
Taiwanese yard starts construction of new anti-submarine frigate
Taiwan's Jong Shyn Shipbuilding Company has begun construction of the second ship of a new class of four light frigates ordered by the Republic of China Navy (RoCN).
Like its earlier sister, the vessel will have a length of 115 metres, a displacement of 2,500 tonnes, and anti-submarine warfare capability.
US naval architecture firm Gibbs and Cox was responsible for the design work on the four future RoCN light frigates, which will also include two examples optimised for anti-air warfare.
