Ukraine’s Minister of Defense Andrii Taran signed the documents during a visit to Ukraine by Ismail Demir, the head of Turkey’s Presidency of Defence Industries ( Savunma Sanayii BaÅŸkanlığı, SSB) on 15 December 2020. Under the procurement deal, Ukraine decided to strengthen its navy with Ada-class corvettes thanks to the agreement between the two countries. The statement said that within the scope of military cooperation agreements signed in October a memorandum was signed with Turkey’s Defense Industries Presidency to produce corvettes for the Ukrainian Navy.
The Okean (Ocean) Shipyard was chosen by Turkey’s Presidency of Defence Industries (SSB) after taking into consideration its specifications and qualified personnel. Corvettes will be produced for the Ukrainian Navy using Turkish technologies to strengthen its navy to boost security in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. The Okean is the third major ship construction yard in the area. It operates modern production facilities supplied by world-known companies, and it has a medium and heavy tonnage production line.
The Ada class is a class of anti-submarine corvettes developed primarily for the Turkish Navy during the first stage of the MILGEM project.Ankara initiated the MILGEM project to locally design and build a fleet of multipurpose corvettes and frigates that will replace older ships. The Turkish Navy has commissioned all four Ada-class corvettes. The Ada-class corvette can carry out the determination and destruction of air, surface and underwater targets as well as provide naval gunfire support. and also surveillance of exclusive economic zones (EEZs).
On 5 July 2018, Pakistani military’s ISPR announced that a Turkish company had won the bid to produce four MILGEM project corvettes for the Pakistan Navy. Turkish Defense Minister Nurettin Canikli described the deal as “the largest defense export of Turkey in one contract. The Pakistani Jinnah class, a modification of the Ada class, is classified as frigate with a displacement of more than 2,800 tons. Originally, Pakistan ordered four ships, of which three would have been regular Ada-class corvettes while the fourth one would have been a reclassified, frigate due to changes.
