The Romanian Navy has welcomed its new Turkish-built Hisar-class corvette Contraamiral Roman into service.
The handover ceremony took place on Saturday at ASFAT’s Istanbul Naval Shipyard, Turkiye, and marked the ship’s entry into operational service with the Romanian Navy; she will soon be redeployed to be outfitted in a Romanian shipyard.
The warship was originally named TCG Akhisar and built as an offshore patrol vessel (OPV) to the Ada design developed under Turkiye’s Milgem programme.
However, Romania will operate the vessel as a corvette and plans to equip her with a broader range of weapons, including Kongsberg’s Naval Strike Missile (NSM) anti-ship projectile.
Other systems set to be installed include Vertical Launching System (VLS) cells for anti-aircraft missiles, a Close-In Weapon System (CIWS), a 35mm calibre gun, a torpedo launch system and an infrared search and tracking system.
The ship was laid down in 2021 at ASFAT’s Istanbul shipyard, launched in September 2023 and began sea trials in December 2024.
The Romanian Government approved the warship’s purchase in March 2025 with a price tag of about €223 million. Since May, Romanian crews have been training on the vessel.
As per a press statement, the Romanian Navy will use the corvette for a wide range of missions including maritime patrols; intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR); maritime interdiction; search and rescue; and surface, anti-aircraft and anti-submarine warfare.
She will carry an embarked helicopter on board, probably either an IAR 330 Puma Naval or an Airbus H215M.
The press statement noted: “The short delivery and integration into the service of the Romanian Navy represented a significant operational opportunity for the Romanian Army, directly contributing to strengthening the response capacity to emerging threats in the Black Sea region.”
- You can read more details on the Romanian Ministry of National Defense website