October 2 was the day for the Navy of Ukraine to celebrate the ship launch ceremony which took place at the docks of the Istanbul Naval Shipyard company. The new corvette "Ivan Mazepa" of the Ada MILGEM class has been in construction since January 2021, and now has entered the waters.
"Today’s extremely important for Ukraine and its Naval Forces event once again testifies to the fact that in conditions of the war for our independence and territorial integrity, for the will of the cosmopolitan Ukrainian nation, for its freedom and dignity, we have a splendid friend of ours – the Republic of Turkey," said the Commander of the Ukrainian Navy Oleksii Neizhpapa. "Our cooperation meets a new dimension: a beautiful corvette, that will very soon defend Ukraine and the free shipping, which is our common goal," he added.
Read more: Developers from Ukraine Created a Unique Submarine: Armed With Torpedoes and a 'Drone' Function
It should be noted, that just two weeks ago when Turkiye showed flashed a few photos of the corvette for Ukraine, it was still too early to talk about launching it.
As Neizhpapa mentioned earlier in an interview to ArmyInform, the Ukrainian Naval Forces will have several boats for the newly created river division this year, as well as ships and boats to perform tasks in the Black Sea – likely the ones provided by Great Britain.
The "Ivan Mazepa" corvette with its hull built and some units included was expected to go to Ukraine for further construction. The tests of the new vessel were planned to start in 2023. However, with some of the major ports seized by russians and the Odesa port being under constant attacks, the plans may change.
The main purpose of the Ada-type corvette within the Ukrainian fleet will be the provision of air defense for tactical groups of several missile cruisers that are built in cooperation with the United Kingdom.
The corvette will be equipped with eight launchers for anti-ship cruise missiles compatible with domestically made Ukrainian "Neptun" missiles, American Harpoon, Turkish Atmaca, or Norway’s Naval Strike Missiles. The air defense capabilities will be represented by the MICA system from MBDA, and the combat information management system will be the Turkish GENESIS. More details.
Read more: Ukraine’s Defense Ministry Selects Anti-Ship, Air Defense Armaments for its Future Ada-Class Corvettes
