The Turkish Navy, which wants increase its existence with higher efficiency in the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean, continues to studies.
Upgrades appeared on the first platform were completed in the modernization of Burak class corvette, which has been on the agenda for some time. In the photos shared by @oeroguz on Twitter, significant changes were detected on the ship.
Within the scope of the modernization work carried out, Modèle 68 main gun mounted on the two-crew CADAM (Cadence Améliorée / Enhanced Rate of Fire) turret of TCG Beykoz (F 503) were replaced by the OTO Melara product remote-controlled 76 mm Compatto gun. In this way, the main weapon sustainment problem on the ship due to spare parts and ammunition shortage was solved. There was also an increase in the elevation angle and the rate of fire of the main gun. The DRBC-32E mechanical type fire control radar, which developed at the end of the 1960s was replaced by ASELSAN production AKR-D, while the Thales DRBV-51A Triton Air / Surface Seaarch radar system was replaced by the ASELSAN product MAR-D. In this way, while the platform's fire control range increased, it gained many capabilities such as three-dimensional radar sign information, advanced counter-countermeasure capability, automatic deviation calculation, hit evaluation, automatic tracking of foe ammunition. In addition, if the system used is AKR-D Block 2, the effective range will increase from 37 kilometres to 80 kilometres. TCG Beykoz, has gained more advanced target detection and track capability with MAR-D integration that provides effective use at 100 km distance. Providing the opportunity of 3D search and track of the air targets, the radar has an active phased array antenna. The system, which has a modular structure, can perform tasks such as position determination and tracking of jammers in the environment. Thanks to the IFF integration, MAR-D can automatically detect friend-foe. For the compatibility of ships with analogue infrastructure to new digital systems, there is no official information about the changes in the console structure on the bridge as well as the electrical and electronic infrastructure.
On the platform, there are six-tube 375 mm LR375 ASW rocket launchers and one MM38 Exocet anti-ship missile canister positioned on the port and starboard sides. However, the effectiveness of MM38s in the Turkish Navy inventory is open to debate in terms of the age of the missiles. L-UMTAS launch from the pedestal mounted Cirit system from the Burak class TCG Bartın (F 504) corvette was destroyed the target successfully in the previous months. The integration of systems, which are predicted to provide significant capabilities against asymmetrical targets at close range, is also on the agenda. There is no information about the fate of twin L5 torpedo tubes in the port and starboard sections of the platform and a different torpedo integration.
The platforms defined as “aviso” by France serve as D'Estienne D'Orves (A69) class. The ships were developed for anti-sbmarine warfare missions in the offshore waters and for escort purposes in the open sea. Avisos, which corresponds to the “sloop of the war” which is not in use today, is classified as a “corvette” in the Turkish Navy inventory. Burak-class platforms, which have a good hydrodynamic form, offer a near-frigate performance in patrol missions thanks to both speed and patrol endurance. The full displacement of the ships, which are 80.5 meters long, is 1,250 thousand tons. Accessing 4,500 nautical miles operational range, avisos are driven by SEMT-Pielstick 12 PC2 V400 diesel engines and two shafts. The Burak class platforms were expected to retire when the Ada class corvettes built under the MilGem Project entered the inventory. However, upon the developments in the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean, the Turkish Navy wanted to keep more platforms, so the ships will be partially modernized and used for a while.
