Türkiye to boost navy with new submarines

Türkiye commissioned its first of planned six Reis-class submarines as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced plans for the country to bolster its naval capabilities further through an indigenous submarine project.

“Submarines are the primary strategic elements of our naval forces. The TCG Piri Reis, which has been commissioned today, is the first of our 6 submarines that have an air-independent propulsion system,” Erdoğan said.

The head of state stressed the need to maintain a "strong and effective navy" to safeguard Türkiye’s peace and security, both within its territorial waters and in far-flung regions.

Noting that Ankara has done revolutionary work on the defense industry for the last 22 years, he said Türkiye plans to commission two submarines over the next two years.

"We will strengthen our navy by commissioning all submarines within the project by 2029," Erdogan said.

At the same time, Erdogan underscored Türkiye’s interests would be protected with domestic national aircraft and that critical capabilities.