MTU Logs Big Order in Turkey

The Tognum subsidiary MTU Friedrichshafen will supply 32 type 16V 4000 M90 engines for 16 new fast patrol boats destined for the Turkish coast guard.

The Tognum subsidiary MTU Friedrichshafen recently received two major orders from the Turkish government to supply engines for new patrol boats and a new corvette for a total of approximately €60 million. For 16 new patrol boats, MTU Friedrichshafen will supply 32 engines of the type 16V 4000 M90, including transmission, to a dockyard in Turkey. A new generation of 400-ton boats capable of more than 25 knots is being produced to a Turkish design. Each of the patrol boats will have two 16-cylinder engines, each with a maximum power output of 2,720 kilowatts (3,700 horsepower). With these new vessels, the Turkish Defense Ministry is modernizing the country’s coast guard and naval fleet. The first engines are to be delivered in 2009. Propulsion units from the Tognum subsidiary MTU Friedrichshafen will also power the Turkish navy’s flagship project: the MILGEM corvette. For this approximately 100-meter-long ship, MTU will deliver the entire drivetrain – a combination of diesel engines and gas turbines. It will comprise two MTU 16-cylinder Series 595 engines, each supplying up to 4,320 kW (5,875 hp), an LM2500 gas turbine with 23,000 kW (31,280 hp), a CODAG (combined diesel and gas turbine) transmission, the drive shafts and the controllable-pitch propellers. The drivetrain will be completed with electronic control and monitoring equipment from MTU. The 31,640 kW (43,030 hp) power pack will accelerate the ship to a maximum speed of more than 29 knots. The complete drivetrain is to be delivered in the middle of 2009. MILGEM is the first ship of its kind to be designed and built in Turkey. Previously, large ships for the Turkish navy were built in cooperation with foreign dockyards. The MILGEM-class corvette (derived from “milli gemi”, Turkish for “national ship”) is being built under Turkish management in Turkey. The first ship of this class is already under construction and is to go into service in 2011.

Additional MILGEM-class ships will be built in the future. A substantial share of the volumes of the two orders will be supplied by MTU’s subsidiary in the country, MTU Turkey, which will function as a key connecting link between the client and the main plant.