Interview:
STM General Manager Murat İKİNCİ
Defence Turkey: STM recently signed a contract with the Pakistani Ministry of Defence Production on June 22, 2016, surpassing French DCNS Shipyard, Naval Group, the submarine manufacturer, in an international tender opened for the Mid-Life Update (MLU) of Khalid Class Submarines ‘Agosta 90B’. During this period, three contract amendments were signed in June 2017, February 2018 and March 2019 for the provision of two submarines and important subsystems from Turkish companies. Could you please inform us on the current status of the project, activities performed so far and the important milestones of the project in the upcoming period?
Murat İKİNCİ: As the main contractor, we are in the phase of Assembly and Integration on the first ship, disassembly of system devices because of unavailable space on the second ship and the preparation of the location for the assembly. By the end of 2019, we plan to complete the installation and integration activities of the systems supplied within the scope of Mid-Life Update in the PNS/M HAMZA submarine, the first submarine of the Project, and to finalize the Setting to Work (STW) tests. We aim to deliver the first submarine of the project PNS/M HAMZA to the Pakistan Navy at the end of December 2020, after the completion of Harbor Acceptance Tests (HAT) in the first quarter of 2020, followed by the Sea Acceptance Tests (SAT).
Simultaneously with the first submarine activities, we plan to complete the Factory Acceptance Tests (FAT) of the systems belonging to PNS/M KHALID which is the second submarine within 2020, to perform the Assembly and Integration activities and to finalize the Preparations for Set to Work (STW) tests by the end of 2020. Our main goal is to deliver PNS/M KHALID to the Pakistani Navy in December 2021, one year after the delivery of the first submarine PNS/M HAMZA.
Defence Turkey: The MLU of the first submarine, which started in 2018, was planned to be delivered within September 2020 or the first quarter of 2021, and the MLU of the second submarine PNS/M Saad (S-138) was scheduled to start in 2019. Could you please provide information about the modernization and improvement work to be carried out on submarines, the products to be procured from Turkish Defence Industry companies, especially from Aselsan and Havelsan, and the estimated labor / man x hours for each submarine?
Murat İKİNCİ: Our main goal for the French originated KHALID class submarines, which are the most popular underwater platform of the Pakistan Navy, is to incorporate the cutting-edge technology products which are indispensable in terms of both effective duty execution and deterrence in a modern submarine. STM, following the completion of our efforts on activity analysis and customer requirements for such platforms, we will provide the Integrated Underwater Command Control System (ESKKS) and Sonar Suite and Sonar Subsystems that work in integration with it, the Submarine Information Distribution System, Underwater/Torpedo Fire Control System, Attack and Navigation Periscopes, ESM, Navigation Radar, Static Converters, Steering Control System, Ship Self-Noise Measurement System, Submarine Rescue Buoy and Digital Bridge Information Console with a 45 bar strength, and in addition to these systems we provide the Auxiliary Cooling Water System to cool the ESKKS, Torpedo Counter Measure System and Electronic Map Display and Information System.
The integrated Underwater Command Control System (ESKKS) and Submarine Information Distribution System are supplied by Havelsan, the ESM, Torpedo Counter Measure System and Navigation Radar System are supplied by Aselsan and the Auxiliary Cooling Water System by Bronswerk, Turkey. STM provides the Submarine Rescue Buoy, 45 bar resistant Digital Bridge Information Console, Electronic Map Display and Information system in addition to all materials for all structural/technical design, analysis, documentation and installation. We can express with pride that we have involved dozens of Turkish defence industry companies in this ecosystem considering the cables for installation, pipes, valves, flanges, panels, consumables, etc.
In addition to the aforementioned supplies, we are working together with Poyraz3M Ltd for activities within the scope of Integrated Logistics Support (ILS). In addition, for the first time in the world in a modernization project in the field of “Diving Safety”, which is vital for the submarine platform, we cooperate and procure services from the IACCS member DNV GL for the control of all the modifications made in the resistant boats and waterproofing bulkheads, control of certifications for all materials and the workmanship towards such parts and finally for the provision of “Diving Safety Certification” for the submarines.
For each submarine, an average of 930-man x months is estimated within the scope of the MLU. This figure does not contain the man x month values of our Subcontractors and the Pakistan Military Shipyard that provide labor activities. We proudly state that the number of companies or countries that can undertake a submarine MLU project on such a scale is countable on just one hand.
Excerpt from:
STM’s Naval Expertise Propelling Export-Oriented Development and Collaboration Projects with the Turkish Defence Industry | defenceturkey.com