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P340 Dogan, Dogan class
The Turkish Navy nowadays has a fleet of 19 Fast Attack Crafts (FAC), separated into four classes, the Kilic, Dogan, Ruzgar and Yildiz class. The last three and older classes are of same design and they are sharing similar technical characteristics and equipment among them. The boats are all manufactured in Turkey with the exception of the Dogan. The newest Kilic class will be analyzed in another article. The Dogan class is the oldest of the three classes as the boats have been built in the period 1976 to 1980. The vessels have a full displacement of 440 tons, a length of 58 meters and a very high speed of 38 knots. The vessels of Ruzgar class were built in the period 1984-1988 and they have a slightly shorter length (57 meters) and a displacement of 410tons. Sometimes the boats of Ruzgar class are considered as a sub-class of Dogan class or even belonging in the Dogan class. The reduced weight of Ruzgar class gives them also a greater speed of 41 (!) knots. The vessels of Yildiz class were built in the period 1994-1995 and they have similar features as those of Dogan class. The crew in the classes consists of around 40-45 people including 6 officers.
P343 Volkan, Dogan class
P349 Karayel, Yildiz class
Harpoon missile. Photo: Boeing
GDM-A Twin Mounting
The armament is the same in all three classes and consists of an OTO Melara Compact (no more in production) naval gun of 3 inches (76mm) which is installed on the bow deck, eight anti-ship missiles Boeing RGM-84A Harpoonhaving 221 kg warhead, a range of 124 km and a speed approaching 860km/h installed in two quadruple launchers Mk141 on the missile deck (however the vessels have never been seen with carrying more than four missiles) and a GDM-A Twin Mounting naval turret with two Oerlikon KDC 35mm guns in dual role (Oerlikon Contraves AG changed its name to Rheinmetall Air Defence AG as of January 1st 2009). This system performs as an anti-aircraft and anti-missile weapon system having a high rate of fire as each barrel can fire 550 rounds per minute with a range for air targets approaching the 5,000 meters while for surface targets beyond 8,000 meters.
P346 Girbet, Ruzgar class. Photo: Jorge Guerra Moreno, 2006
The radar antenna system
An example of how the system operates
The Dogan class and Ruzgar class have almost identical equipment. The vessels have a BAE Systems WM28/41 multi-channel fire-control system that uses a combined radar antenna system. It is designed to provide continuous air and surface warning, navigation aid, combat information, target designation and weapon control. The mini combat system is a fast reacting system, including certain data handling facilities which are of great importance during operations in a multi-target environment. Its high-quality radar, provided with ECCM features, guarantees target detection and engagement at maximum weapon range.
LIOD Mk2
The vessels have a Decca 1226TM navigation radar and a Thales LIOD (Dogan class) or Thales LIOD Mk2 (Ruzgar class) electro-optical targeting and acquisition sensor system. This sensor is for automatic, optronic tracking of air, for surface targets and against asymmetric tactics such as piracy and insurgency. The basic sensor set consists of TV and IR cameras in combination with an eye-safe laser range-finder. It is a passive sensor, which are difficult to detect and completely insensitive to ECM. In the electronic equipment there is also an electronic warfare suite SUSIE- 1. The boats of Dogan class have been upgraded with the installation of the Combat Management System (CMS) TACTICOS while the sub-class Ruzgar has the STACOS SEWACO (other sources report that they have been also retrofitted with TACTICOS). The Electronic Support Measures in the Dogan and Ruzgar class include ELDES-21 (to some of the vessels, others have the older SUSIE-1), SPHINX and SLQ-501 and the Mk 36 SRBOC decoy launchers.
AWS6 Dolphin radar
TMX-CW fire control system
Target Designation Sight (TDS)
The Yildiz class is equipped with an AWS6 Dolphin air and surface search radar, a Siemens Albis TMX-CW fire control system, a Thales LIOD Mk2 electro-optical targeting and acquisition sensor system and a Kelvin Hughes KH1007navigation radar. The combat management system is TACTICOS of Thales. In the equipment of Yildiz class are included a Target Designation Sight (TDS) that provides means for optical investigation, target designation and weapon firing. The TDS is equipped with binoculars and the latest version includes a Laser Range Finder. Bearing and elevation data are fed into the CMS system but the TDS can also be used for emergency control of a gun or CIWS system. The importance of the function of the TDS is re-emphasised against asymmetric tactics such as piracy and insurgency. Also Yildiz class features Cutlass 242 ESM which is designed for operation in very dense signal environments; the systems receive signals in the 1 to 18 GHz frequency range, measure their parameters, compare these with those in a pre-programmed radar library and display the information within 1 second. In the equipment of the boats are also included Link 11 and Mk 36 SRBOC decoy launchers.
Boats in each class
