Turkey’s Dearsan Shipyard has completed initial sea trials of the second of two offshore patrol vessels (OPV) constructed for the Nigerian Navy.
A contract for the OPV-76 class vessels was signed in November 2021, with deliveries in 37 months.
Construction began in September 2022, with the first ship launched in October 2023, followed by the second in April 2024.
The project’s estimated cost is $160 million and an initial payment of $35 million was made in June 2022, according to Military Africa.
Delivery of both the vessels is scheduled in 2025, the outlet added.
Offshore Patrol Vessel-76
The vessel is designed for a range of missions, such as anti-air warfare, maritime interdiction, anti-surface warfare, surface and air surveillance, and special forces operations.
Its peacetime operations include anti-piracy, anti-smuggling, and anti-drug trafficking.
The ship is 76.8 meters (252 feet) long, with a beam of 11 meters (36 feet) and a draft of 2.9 meters (9.5 feet).
It has a displacement of 1,100 tons, a range of 3,000 nautical miles (5,556 kilometers/3,452 miles), and a speed of up to 28 knots (52 kilometers/32 miles per hour).
The ship’s crew-carrying capacity is 43.
Weapons and Navigation Systems
It is armed with a 76 mm Leonardo Super Rapid Gun, a 40 mm Leonardo Light Naval Gun, two 12.7 mm Stabilized Automatic Machine Guns, and four Mistral SIMBAD RC anti-air self-defence systems.
It is also equipped with a combat management system, navigation data distribution unit, air and surface surveillance 3D radar, and an electronic support measure system.
Additional features include Identification Friend or Foe, a chaff/decoy system, tactical data link system, and an electro-optical reconnaissance and surveillance system.
