Qatar’s Ministry of Defence signed a contract for the procurement of two Fast Attack Craft (FAC 50) ships with Turkish DEARSAN Shipyard. The vessels are intended for the Qatar Emiri Naval Forces (QENF).
The contract was signed Tuesday on the sideline of the Doha International Maritime Exhibition & Conference (DIMDEX 2024), which concluded Wednesday.
The ceremony was attended by Major General Abdullah bin Hassan Al SULAİTİ, Commander of the Qatar Navy, Prof. Dr. Haluk GÖRGÜN, Head President of the Turkish Defence Agency (SSB), and Mr. Aziz YILDIRIM, Chairman of the Board of Directors.
As per a LinkedIn post by the company, the vessels are designed to effectively carry out missions in Asymmetric Warfare, Patrol Missions, Protection of Territorial Waters, Anti-Piracy, Reconnaissance and Surveillance, Search and Rescue, Disaster Relief Operations, Border Control, Base and Port Security. The High-Speed Fast Patrol Boat will be equipped with weapon systems for Surface Warfare, Air Defense Warfare, and Asymmetric Warfare.
The FAC50 is a 43-meter fast attack craft with a beam of 9.2 meters and a draught of 2 meters. Although the original model is 50 meters long, it has been specifically configured to meet the requirements of the QENF.
Equipped with indigenous weapons and sensors, the only exception being Leonardo’s 40 mm gun, the FAC50 will be armed with Roketsan-made ÇAKIR missiles for anti-surface warfare and Sungur missiles for Anti-Air Warfare. Additionally, it will feature 2 Aselsan-STAMP remote weapon stations and two 12.7 man-operated machine guns.
The sensor suite comprises Aselsan-made MAR-D surface and air surveillance radar, low probability of intercept (LPI) navigation radar, electro-optical sensor, and an electronic support system.
The DEARSAN FAC50’s propulsion system includes 3 diesel engines and 3 waterjets, providing a speed of 36+ knots to the boat.
DEARSAN specializes in the design and construction of private military ships, with the integration of weapon systems, as well as in the construction of complex commercial ships such as tugboats, fuel/chemical tankers, fast passenger ferries. DEARSAN shipyard has proved its worldwide design, engineering, fabrication and installation capability with its facilities and experienced workforce.
Established in 1980, DEARSAN is a modern shipyard which operates in İstanbul, Turkey. DEARSAN Shipyard has the ability to build 9 ships of various types at the same time with its 126 m long skid, 15,341 m2 closed ship building site, 15,870 m2 open area and 31,211m2 total area.
