The report issued by the Turkish Ministry of Defense contains developments in defense projects, including the Turkish Type FAC project, and the activities of the Ministry and its assets.
In the “Defence and Security Management Activities” part of the report, the Ministry summarized the most recent status of the projects, which includes the Turkish Type Fast Attack Craft program. The report provides the latest drawing of the FAC, which resembles STM’s MPAC (Multipurpose Attacking Craft) design.
“The Turkish Defense Agency plans to implement the project model in three phases: Contract design, prototype construction and follow-on ships.”
Turkish Ministry of Defence
According to a source in the Turkish defence industry, the MPAC design of STM has not yet been selected by the authorities, but the design of STM has been modified in accordance with the needs of the Turkish Navy and implemented in the MPAC design.
Here are two drawings to compare Turkish Type FAC design and STM’s MPAC.
The design features;
- 76 mm gun (probably MKE’s indigenous 76 mm naval gun)
- 4×2 AShM (probably ATMACA)
- PDMS (probably Roketsan Levent or Aselsan Gokdeniz ER)
- 1xFCR (probably Aselsan AKR-D)
- NAVRAD (probably Aselsan ALPER LPI Radar)
- EO System
Although the drawing shows that the FAC will have a water jet propulsion system, the number of water jets cannot be seen. Also missing from the illustration is an air-to-ground search radar, but it is assumed that the new FAC will be equipped with an indigenous radar such as Aselsan’s MAR-D or a smaller version of the CENK-S AESA radar.
The Turkish Type FAC project aims to build modern FACs to replace the aging Dogan- and Ruzgar-class FACs that have been in service with the Turkish Navy for decades.The contract for the design phase of the FACs was signed on August 31, 2020, and the primary contractor, STM Defence, aimed to deliver the first prototype of FAC 30 months after the design phase was completed. STM officials stated during the Naval Systems Seminar on November 15 and 16 in Ankara that the design phase would be completed in 2022. As a result, the start of prototype construction in 2022 was an expected development, but there is no official announcement for the prototype yet.
About Multipurpose Attacking Craft (MPAC)
STM-MPAC is a monohull platform that is designed to perform anti surface and anti air warfare along with patrol duties in shallow waters and open seas under heavy sea conditions. STM-MPAC is also capable of operating at high speeds according to its optimized effective hull form and main propulsion system configuration.
Technical Specifications:
- Overall Length: 66.2 m
- Beam: 9.7 m
- Draft: 2.4 m
- Displacement: 620 tonnes
- Max Speed: 40+ knots
- Endurance: 100 nm at 20 kts
- Main Propulsion: 2x Gas Turbines + 2x Diesel Engines, 3xWaterjets
- Accomodation: 40 crew
- Power Generation: 4 x Diesel Generator
Sensors and Weapons
- 3D Surveillance Radar/IFF
- ESM and ECM System
- 2x Fire Control Radar (EO Suit TV/IR/LRF)
- E/O Director (EO Suit TV/IR/LRF)
- Laser Warning System
- 76 mm Gun
- 2x 12.7 mm Stabilized Gun (EO)
- Point Defence Missile System (PDMS)
- Surface-to-Surface Missile (SSM) System
- 2 x RF/IR Chaff Decoy Launchers
- 2 x Navigation Radar (X-Band, combined 360° coverage picture)
- LPI Radar
- Integrated (Internal/External) Communication System
- INMARSAT SATCOM
- Ship Data Distribution System
- Ship Local Area Network
- Navigation Systems
- WECDIS
- WAIS
