“Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif of Pakistan will pay a visit to Istanbul on November 25-26, 2022 to attend the launching ceremony of the third vessel of the Pakistan MILGEM Corvette Project at the invitation of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan,” the Turkish presidency said in a statement.

MILGEM project is a national warship program of the Republic of Turkey. Managed by the Turkish Navy, the project aims at developing multipurpose corvettes, frigates, and destroyers that can be deployed in a range of missions, including reconnaissance, surveillance, early warning, anti-submarine warfare, surface-to-surface and surface-to-air warfare, and amphibious operations.

As of 2018, the MILGEM project covers four Ada class anti-submarine warfare corvettes and one ELINT corvette, four Istanbul class multipurpose frigates and TF2000 class anti-air warfare destroyers destined for the Turkish Navy, four Babur-class corvettes for the Pakistan Navy.

The name of the project emerged from the phrase "National Ship" in Turkish – Milli Gemi. (ILKHA)