Erdoğan said the national naval cannon is equipped with a digital fire control system developed with domestic and national means, and once integrated into the inventory, the Turkish Naval Forces would significantly increase its strength and effectiveness in mobility.

After greeting the participants, Erdoğan said: “I am pleased to be here with you on another historic day for the Turkish defense industry.”

Wishing that the national naval cannon ground firing tests would be successful, President Erdoğan said naval cannons are weapons systems that stand out as an integral component of navies.

Erdoğan said these weapons systems, which are the striking power of warships, play essential roles in combat and added:

“About a year ago, Turkey included naval cannons into its efforts to localize its defense industry. We sought to reduce our country’s foreign dependency on naval cannons, just as we did in other fields. Particularly in the last few months, serious concerns have emerged in terms of both cost and lead times for imported goods. We were also subjected to several embargoes and blocking attempts, both apparent and concealed.”

“We developed our national naval cannons in a record-breaking 12 months”

Erdoğan stated that the project is one of the outstanding instances of public-private sector cooperation, and he added: “With the joint efforts of the restructured Mechanical and Chemical Industry Corporation, Directorate General of Naval Shipyards and İğrek Makine, ANZATSAN Mühendislik and ERMAKSAN Teknoloji companies, Turkey has once again achieved the unachievable. Praise be to Allah, in a record-breaking 12 months, we developed our national naval cannons at the end of a process that our Ministry of Industry and Technology actively supported.”

Emphasizing the naval cannons, whose ground firing tests will be conducted, are one of the most significant weapons systems of the navy, Erdoğan added:

“With the national naval cannon it developed, Turkey has become one of the few countries to develop this weapons system. The national naval cannons have a 16-kilometre effective range. This weapon, which can fire 80 rounds per minute and has five different firing modes, has further strengthened our navy. Unlike other systems, it is equipped with a digital fire control system developed with domestic and national means. Once integrated into the inventory, the Turkish Naval Forces will significantly increase its strength and effectiveness in mobility. Furthermore, the excessive costs and concealed embargoes while purchasing goods from abroad will no longer be an issue.”

Erdoğan congratulated those who helped bring the project to fruition and wished the national naval cannon to be auspicious. (ILKHA)