Turkmenistan - Naval Forces - Modernization
Fleet development is among the main priorities of military construction, primarily due to the unresolved legal status of the Caspian Sea and the need to protect the emerging national drilling fleet. Responsible for the security of a 954 nautical mile coastline, Turkmenistan's naval service was long the weakest among the littoral Caspian Sea states. Despite promises by the government to prioritize the navy, for many years the navy lacked funds to procure or refurbish combat vessels, lacked necessary port facilities and had a shortage of qualified personnel. However, in recent years, the navy has managed to find the funding and political support, largely as a result of Turkmenistan's desire to establish better control over its offshore oil and gas resources, some of which are the subject of disputes with neighboring Azerbaijan.
In 2006 the navy had 700 active personnel [some sources report up to 2,000 and even 3,000, which is doubtful]. A small naval base operated from Turkmenbashi. The naval force on the Caspian Sea had five boats. In 2008 Turkmenistan bought three guided-missile patrol boats and two smaller patrol boats from Russia. Turkmenistan has said it wants to buy two or more larger warships, possibly corvettes, as well.
The navy has begun to revitalize its fleet and transform itself from a coast guard into a force capable of conducting limited combat operations. To strengthen the fleet, Turkmenistan in 2001 decided to buy in Ukraine through "Ukrspetsexport" war patrol boats of "Grif" ["Vulture"] and "Kalkan-m" projects. It is also planned to supply 10 multi-purpose Grif boats and four Ukrainian-made Kalkan-M vessels equipped with 12.7 mm heavy machine guns. The number of boats is planned to bring up to 20 units through acquisition of an improved version of "GRIF-t" ("Condor") and type "Kalkan-m-10 (both built and supplied by Ukraine).
Most of the Excess Defense Articles (EDA) provided by the United States to the Central Asian states was miscellaneous office or kitchen equipment, tools, or uniform items. The primary exception was the 82-foot patrol boat, Point Jackson, delivered to Turkmenistan for maritime security on the Caspian Sea. Turkmenistan got two "Sable" Navy patrol boats produced by Russian firm "Almaz", with speeds up to 50 knots, in late 2009. In October 2011, the navy received two new Project 1241.8-class missile corvettes and was set to receive two new 57 meter NTPB (New Type Patrol Boat) patrol vessels.
These acquisitions significantly improved Turkmenistan's naval capabilities in the Caspian Sea. However, at present the Turkmen Navy remains the weakest in the region compared to the naval capabilities of other States bordering the Caspian Sea.
On 11 August 2021, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov took part in the opening of a new military unit of the Naval Forces and the buildings of the frontier post of the State Border Service. Turkmenistan Christened their Turkish-built corvette Deniz Han in the ceremony of introducing the corvette Deniz into the Turkmen Navy Han (tail number "01"), which became the largest unit of the Turkmen fleet. The Turkmen flag was raised on the ship. At the site of the celebrations, the head of state was met by Secretary of the State Security Council Charymyrat Amanov. Regarding the new military unit of the Navy, TDH notes that "all departments are equipped with special software, and with the help of the latest technologies and a digital system, it is possible to track passenger and military ships in the Caspian Sea."
In August 2019 it was reported that the joint venture Gülhan & Dearsan Is Ortakligi of the Turkish Istanbul shipbuilding companies Gülhan Shipyard and Dearsan Shipyard, created specifically for the joint design and construction of military ships, signed a contract for the construction of one corvette 92 meters long for the Turkmen Navy, which project was conventionally designated as Turkmen. In the future, it was reported it was possible to build several more ships of this type for Turkmenistan. The construction of the corvette was carried out by assembling from sections delivered from Turkey at the shipbuilding and ship repair plant of the State Border Guard of Turkmenistan in Ufra in Turkmenbashi (formerly Krasnovodsk). The hull sections of the corvette at the enterprise in Ufra were visible on Google Earth satellite image dated March 27, 2020.
The corvette was named in honor of Deniz Khan (Tengis Khan) - one of the sons of the legendary ancestor of the Turkmens (Turks) Oguz Khan, who was named after the Turkic mythological endless ocean (Genghis Khan is believed to have been named after the name of Deniz Khan in the ancient Mongolian transcription). Accordingly, in the Turkic tradition, Deniz Khan symbolizes the sovereignty and domination of the Turkic state in the seas.
Dearsan Shipyard (Gulhan & Dearsan) had successfully implemented contracts for the supply of ten large 400-ton 57-meter missile and artillery boats to the State Border Guard and the Turkmen Navy under Project NTPB (New Type Patrol Boat, Turkish abbreviation YTKB. Boats of this type were assembled from sections at the enterprise in Ufra, equipped with Otomat Mk 2 anti-ship missile systems and SIMBAD-RC light anti-aircraft missile systems). It delivered six small 33-meter missile boats (equipped with anti-ship missile system MBDA Marte Mk 2 / N). Azeri Defence News learned during IDEF 2015 exhibition that the first vessel was delivered in July 2015 r and the last one is expected to be delivered by 2017. It has also 41-meter survey vessel Umman, ten small 15-meter boats of the AMV type ("Bars-12"), two 27-meter landing boats of the LCM-1 type, one passenger boat and five small tugboats and rescue vessels.
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