Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Howard (DDG 83) transits the South China Sea, April 20, 2024. Howard, part of Carrier Strike Group Nine, is underway conducting routine operations in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations

SOUTH CHINA SEA (April 20, 2024) . U.S. 7th Fleet is the Navy’s largest forward-deployed numbered fleet, and routinely interacts and operates with allies and partners in preserving a free and open Indo-Pacific region. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Adina Phebus)
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As Turkish ship heads to Japan, industry eyes Eastern exports

Turkey’s Ada-class corvette TCG Kinaliada set sail April 8 for a nearly five-month deployment to Japan and other nearby countries. (Cem Devrim Yaylali/Staff)

By Cem Devrim Yaylali

ISTANBUL — A Turkish military vessel set sail April 8 for a nearly five-month deployment to Japan and other nearby countries.

The navy deployed its Ada-class corvette TCG Kinaliada to both celebrate the 100th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Turkey and Japan, as well as commemorate the 134th anniversary of the sinking of the Ottoman frigate Ertuğrul during a typhoon following its visit to Japan.

But there’s a deeper message behind the ship’s eastward trip, experts told Defense News, one that could see Turkey’s defense industry gain a greater foothold in Asia.

The Asia Anew Initiative, which Turkey launched in 2019, essentially drives the country’s relationships with others in the region, according to Diren Doğan, a lecturer at Alanya Alaaddin Keykubat University in Turkey.

“With this initiative, Turkey defines itself not as a ‘foreign country’ that noticed the rise of Asia and started to attach importance to the continent, but as a country with an Asian identity at every stage of history. And in addition to struggling with the challenges that the continent has brought throughout history, in parallel with the changing conjuncture, it also benefits from the advantages it has produced,” Doğan told Defense News.

Some of the nations Kinaliada is scheduled to visit are users of Turkish defense products. On its way to Japan, the ship and its crew have already stopped in Saudi Arabia and Djibouti, with plans to also visit Somalia, the Maldives, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, China and South Korea.

As it returns home, the vessel is to stop in the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, India, Oman, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, Djibouti and Jordan.

Such port visits by military ships are used to improve diplomatic and geopolitical relations. An exhibition of Turkish defense wares, involving company representatives, took place during the crew’s stop in the Saudi coastal city of Jeddah, according to the Turkish Defense Ministry.

Doğan noted that despite displays of military equipment, the Asia Anew Initiative does not call for Turkey to choose a side “as great power competition escalates.” And that in itself makes Turkey’s weaponry attractive, she added.

“This initiative is considered a comfortable area because it puts mutual benefit above the countries’ personal ambitions, and avoids touching their political sensitivities. This created comfort zone increases preferability, even in a sensitive sector such as the defense industry,” Doğan said.

The Turkish ship TCG Kinaliada stopped in the port city of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on its way to Japan in April 2024. (Turkish Defense Ministry)

According to statistics shared by the Defence and Aerospace Industry Exporters’ Association, one of Turkey’s industry umbrella organizations, the nation’s total exports in 2023 were worth $255.8 billion, of which $5.5 billion came from the defense and aerospace sector.

None of the countries that TCG Kinaliada is visiting during its deployment are mentioned in the association’s top 10 list of export customers. But sales to Asian nations — with the exception of those in the Commonwealth of Independent States — made up 16% of Turkey’s defense and aerospace exports, or nearly $1 billion.

“As the Southeast Asian countries move away from their former suppliers, such as Russia and China, and seek to modernize their militaries, they will look for cost-effective suppliers that would not hinder their autonomy. Turkish companies, especially in uncrewed systems, could have significant advantages in the region,” said Çağlar Kurç, an assistant professor at Abdullah Gül University in Turkey, who has written about the local defense industry’s international ambitions.

“Turkish companies have an advantage in price and capacity when selling to Asian countries,” he told Defense News. “Turkish arms are high quality and cheap, compared to U.S. systems. Turkey does not use its arms trade relations as leverage; thus, it is a dependable and credible supplier.”

Turkish defense contractor FNSS has been active in Indonesia and Malaysia since early 2000. For the former, it developed a prototype medium tank that the firm eventually evolved into the Kaplan MT, jointly produced by Indonesian company PT Pindad. In Malaysia, FNSS has provided the ACV-300 Adnan armored infantry fighting vehicle.

Naval engineering specialist STM, also a Turkish defense company, signed a contract in 2013 to build a support tanker for Pakistan’s naval force. Delivery took place in 2018, the same year Turkey’s ASFAT inked a deal to manufacture a modified Milgem-class corvette for the same nation.

In 2021, Turkey sold six T129 Atak combat helicopters to the Philippines for $629 million.

And this year, the Maldives announced it chose the TB2 combat drone from Bayraktar to patrol the island nation’s exclusive economic zone. The unmanned aerial system gained prominence from its use by Ukraine in the war against Russia, which launched a full-scale invasion of its neighbor in February 2022.

Indonesia announced in January plans to buy 45 Atmaca anti-ship missiles from Turkey. The TCG Kinaliada is armed with the weapon, which means defense officials in the host countries may have an opportunity to see the missile in person.

And in March, Malaysia unveiled plans to acquire Ada-class corvettes for its Littoral Mission Ship Batch 2 program. For its part, the TCG Kinaliada is the fourth ship of the Ada class — the first type of combat naval platform designed and constructed in Turkey.

But if Turkey wants to gain a greater Eastern foothold, Kurç said, it should consider engaging with South Korea, which has emerged as a leader in regional defense exports.

Still, it’s very much a balancing act for the potential customers, Doğan noted.

“While the countries in the region are economically fed by China, they are trying to fend off the security-oriented challenges brought by Chinese aggression with the security umbrella of the USA,” she said. While implementing all these strategies, they must try not to get too close to the USA and infuriate the dragon [China], while they also have to be careful not to get too carried away by the added value that China brings to their economy and go out of the protective atmosphere of the USA.”

“Turkey stands out as a preferred middle ground for countries to diversify their hands in this harrowing process,” she added.

About Cem Devrim Yaylali

Cem Devrim Yaylali is a Turkey correspondent for Defense News. He is a keen photographer of military ships and has a passion for writing about naval and defense issues. He was born in Paris, France, and resides in Istanbul, Turkey. He is married with one son.
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Lack of Free San Diego Dry Docks Complicates USS Boxer Repair

SAM LAGRONE APRIL 19, 2024 6:27 PM

The two dry docks large enough to accommodate a big deck amphibious warship in San Diego, Calif., are currently occupied, complicating the repairs of USS Boxer (LHD-4), USNI News has learned.

Boxer came back into port last week with one of its rudders damaged after leaving earlier this month on deployment. As of Friday, the Navy was assessing how to repair the rudder to allow the 45,000-ton capital ship to return to sea, a service official told USNI News. The service would prefer to fix the rudder underwater with the understanding that the replacement repair could take up to two to three weeks, USNI News previously reported.

Complications could arise if the big deck needs to go into dry dock. The dry dock large enough to accommodate Boxer at BAE Systems’ San Diego repair yard is occupied by an availability for Littoral Combat Ship USS Oakland (LCS-24). The nearby General Dynamics NASSCO dry dock is occupied by guided-missile destroyer USS Chung Hoon (DDG-93), which is undergoing an availability to install the AN/SLQ-32(V)7 Surface Electronic Warfare Improvement Program Block 3. Moving either of the warships would extend both availabilities, USNI News understands.

The Navy is considering using a dry dock in Portland, Ore., at a shipyard owned by Vigor Industrial, but the service would have to remove ten feet of the Boxer’s mast so the big deck could travel under a bridge on the Willamette River to reach the yard, two sources familiar with Navy deliberations told USNI News.

As of now, Boxer is at the pier at Naval Base San Diego.

Boxer returned to San Diego on April 11 after leaving on a delayed Amphibious Ready Group deployment with the embarked 15th Marine Expeditionary Group.

Boxer is the flagship of the three-ship Boxer ARG, which also includes USS Somerset (LPD-25) and USS Harpers Ferry (LSD-49). The deployment is the first for the Marine’s new Amphibious Combat Vehicles.

The deployment of the Boxer ARG and the 15th MEU has been split due to the big deck’s maintenance woes. Somerset left San Diego in January on its own with elements of the 15th MEU aboard. Harpers Ferry departed San Diego on March 19.

Having Boxer sidelined has forced the Navy and Marine Corps to retool several planned engagements in the Western Pacific, including Cobra Gold off Thailand earlier this year and the bilateral Balikatan exercise with the Philippines. Boxer was supposed to be a key asset in the drills with Manila that are billed as the largest in 30 years. This year’s exercises follow increasingly aggressive moves from China against Armed Forces of the Philippines’ resupply mission to the AFP’s base on Second Thomas Shoal, USNI News previously reported.
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Typhoon Display Team shows off new 80th anniversary D-Day-themed makeover

22nd April 2024 at 4:25pm

2024 marks the 80th anniversary anniversary of the Normandy Landings (Picture: RAF Typhoon Display Team

The RAF Typhoon Display Team has shown off its new livery for the season – an 80th anniversary D-Day tribute scheme – complete with invasion stripes.

The aircraft has been painted in the RAF’s mid- to late-war European theatre colours of dark green and ocean grey over medium sea grey – the same as the Hawker Typhoons of the era.

The team at RAF Coningsby even painted black and white invasion stripes over the rear fuselage and wings – which were used to avoid friendly fire over the beaches of Normandy in June 1944 and beyond.

* Typhoon: The RAF’s primary multi-role fighter jet that packs a mighty punch

* Sitrep: How RAF Typhoon pilots helped stop Iran’s drone and missile attack on Israel

* Royal Air Force Typhoons moved from Romania to help shore up defence of Israel

This year marks the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings during the Second World War.

The RAF Typhoon Display Team said on social media: “Please allow us to introduce, ZJ913, now known as Moggy.

“ZJ913 now adorned with a D-Day inspired livery, originally worn by Hawker Typhoon. Sporting the letters FM-G. FM was the lettering of 257 Sqn RAF, and the last aircraft wearing FM-G was flown by Sqn Denzil Jenkins.

“This aircraft has been designed to commemorate and celebrate the 80th anniversary of Op Overlord. We’re looking forward to displaying this new livery this season.”

Earlier this month, six RAF Typhoons were moved from Romania and were redeployed to help defend Israel.

The Typhoon is capable of dropping Paveway IV precision-guided bombs and has been used to strike so-called Islamic State targets in Iraq and Syria.
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