The commissioning of two new Turkish frigates this month marks a significant step in Ankara’s naval expansion, strengthening its influence in the Mediterranean, Aegean, and Black Seas, and extending its reach beyond these regions. This is how Bloomberg warns the World: Turkey’s naval ambitions surge with two new frigates.
This milestone also reflects the growing diversification of Turkey’s domestic defence industry, previously noted for its drone technology.
According to a Bloomberg report, Turkey intends to capitalise on escalating conflicts over maritime trade routes—a threat highlighted by Houthi rebels near Yemen, ongoing hostilities between Ukraine and Russia in the Black Sea, and NATO’s heightened vigilance against potential sabotage of undersea cables. Currently, Turkish shipyards are constructing 29 additional vessels, including the country’s first domestically produced submarines, cruisers, and aircraft carriers. Bloomberg projects that, based on data from the International Institute for Strategic Studies, Turkey’s fleet will grow to 209 ships.
Suha Cubukcuoglu, a senior researcher at Trends Research & Advisory, observes that this development “not only alters the regional balance of power but also signals Turkey’s emergence as a naval force capable of projecting power abroad while maintaining dominance in strategically vital, geographically complex regions such as the Aegean.”
This assertive policy is rooted in the “Blue Homeland” doctrine, which aims to secure control over large maritime areas surrounding Turkey. As a result, Ankara has engaged in multiple disputes with Greece and Cyprus regarding maritime boundaries and undersea energy resources in the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean. Although tensions have cooled somewhat since a 2020 naval collision, both countries remain firmly committed to their exclusive economic zone claims.
Extending its reach further, the Turkish navy escorts hydrocarbon exploration vessels to Somalia, where Ankara operates its largest overseas military base. Such military expansion requires substantial investment; Turkey’s defence budget for 2025 is set at US$45 billion—an 11% rise from the previous year. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has leveraged this growth to bolster domestic production, reducing reliance on Western arms suppliers, who have occasionally imposed embargoes on Turkey over political disputes.
Cubukcuoglu notes that the domestic defence industry now underpins much of the navy’s capability: “Twenty years ago, it was heavily dependent on equipment from the US and NATO. Today, about 75%-80% of the components are domestically produced.” Turkish shipbuilders have secured orders not only for their own fleet but also for those of Qatar, Pakistan, Ukraine, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, and Portugal.
In 2024, they achieved their first export of an unmanned surface vehicle (USV) to Qatar. Within NATO, Turkey has one of the most advanced USV programmes, positioning it to benefit significantly from an international market expected by Janes to be worth US$7.8 billion by 2032.
