Türkiye makes first naval export to NATO ally with Corvette delivery to Romania

Türkiye has delivered a warship to a NATO and European Union member state for the first time, handing over the corvette Cam. Roman to the Romanian Navy during a ceremony in Istanbul attended by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Romanian President Nicușor Dan.

Speaking at the event, Erdoğan described the delivery as a milestone for Türkiye’s defence industry and its international partnerships, Caliber.Az reports via foreign media. 

“Today we have gathered in Istanbul to reaffirm the achievements of our maritime industry, our engineering expertise, and the friendship between Türkiye and Romania. We are taking another step toward the long-standing friendship between Türkiye and Romania and are proud to hand over the corvette Cam. Roman to the Romanian Navy. This is the first time in our history that we have delivered a warship to a country that is a member of both NATO and the European Union,” Erdoğan said.

He highlighted the strategic importance of the Black Sea region, describing it as “an integral part of the Euro-Atlantic security architecture.”

“We value the growing cooperation between Türkiye, Romania, and Bulgaria in areas such as mine countermeasures. We hope this cooperation will become even closer in the future,” he added.

Erdoğan also emphasised the domestic content of the systems used on the vessel, noting that key combat systems were produced by Turkish firms.

“Another important point is that the combat management system, radars, fire control systems, sonar systems, and close-in defense weapons used on the ships we handed over today were entirely manufactured by our domestic companies,” he said.

Alongside the corvette transfer to Romania, the Turkish Navy also received the Hisar-class patrol vessel TCG Kochisar during the same ceremony.

Both ships were built under Türkiye’s national naval development program by Asfat, a defence company operating under the Turkish Ministry of National Defence and serving as the project’s main contractor.

By Sabina Mammadli