Türkiye’s MKE fires first homegrown 127mm naval gun barrel from TCG Fatih frigate.

Makine ve Kimya Endüstrisi (MKE) in Türkiye has produced and sea-tested a domestically manufactured 127 mm/54-caliber naval gun barrel, integrated on the Turkish Navy frigate TCG Fatih on 20 November 2025. The successful trials mark a major step in Ankara’s push to field a fully national heavy naval gun, reducing reliance on foreign suppliers while adding a future exportable NATO-standard system.

State-owned defense manufacturer Makine ve Kimya Endüstrisi (MKE) has completed at-sea acceptance firing of its first indigenous 127 mm/54-caliber naval gun barrel, installed on the Turkish Navy frigate TCG Fatih, according to company and naval sources. The validated firing campaign confirms that the domestically produced barrel meets safety, chamber pressure, and accuracy requirements, bringing Türkiye significantly closer to operational deployment of a national heavy naval gun.
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The Turkish Navy frigate TCG Fatih conducts sea trials with MKE’s new 127 mm/54-caliber national naval gun barrel installed on the forward deck. (Picture source: MKE)

The 127 mm/54-caliber barrel is currently the core of the program. Manufactured at MKE’s heavy weapons plant, it starts from an 8-meter steel blank weighing about 5,300 kilograms, which undergoes peeling to remove surface oxides, then a long boring sequence and heat treatment to increase mechanical strength. The internal diameter is then gradually brought to its final profile before rifling is machined, after which the bore receives high-pressure chrome plating to protect the surface and extend service life. At the end of the process, the blank is transformed into a 6,858 mm barrel weighing 1,628 kilograms, ready to be installed in the turret fitted on the frigate’s foredeck.

The qualification firings take place as part of the Turkish Navy’s acceptance procedure, using this 127 mm turret already integrated into the ship’s architecture. The fact that the firing campaign is completed and validated indicates that the national barrel meets the safety, chamber pressure, and accuracy criteria required for operational service. In this caliber class, 127 mm/54-caliber guns traditionally fire shells of around 30 kilograms to ranges beyond 20 kilometers, at rates of fire between roughly twenty and several dozen rounds per minute, which provides a reference point for MKE’s future complete weapon system.

As a weapon, a 127 mm/54-caliber gun gives a frigate a much broader employment envelope than a medium-caliber mount. Such a system can deliver high-explosive, smoke or illumination shells for fire support ashore, neutralization of coastal batteries, or engagement of surface vessels at standoff range. The size of the barrel also allows, in the longer term, for the development of guided or extended-range ammunition, similar to precision projectiles already fielded for other 127 mm guns in Western navies. In a context where anti-ship missile inventories are likely to be under pressure, the ability to generate sustained volume fire at lower unit cost becomes an option of interest for task group commanders in littoral operations.

On the industrial side, MKE builds on existing experience in naval artillery. In 2020, the company launched development of the national 76 mm MKE Denizhan-76 naval gun to circumvent de facto embargoes affecting the supply of foreign systems, and within one year delivered a complete turret, tested and accepted into service with the naval forces.

Five 76 mm mounts are now in service on MİLGEM-class ships, and a first export contract has been signed with Indonesia, giving MKE an international reference. The 127 mm development fits into this upward trajectory, with the stated ambition not only to produce the barrel but also the future complete weapon system, including recoil mechanisms, automatic ammunition handling, and fire-control equipment, on the same industrial base.

In operational use, a 127 mm gun naturally fits into the Recognised Maritime Picture/Common Operational Picture (RMP/COP) generated by the ship’s sensors and tactical data links. Fire missions can be tasked using target designations provided by other surface platforms, maritime patrol aircraft, or even medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) drones, without the frigate necessarily exposing itself on the frontline.

Under emissions control (EMCON), the ship can still employ the 127 mm by relying on passive tracks and shared information, which limits its electromagnetic signature while maintaining a credible sea-based fires capability. The gun then complements anti-ship and cruise missiles rather than replacing them, by providing a graduated option ranging from warning shots to neutralization fire and support to amphibious operations.

At the geopolitical level, the 127 mm episode illustrates the rapid broadening of Türkiye’s defence industrial and technological base across almost all segments, from armored vehicles to missiles, from MALE drones to naval sensors, and now to heavy naval artillery. For partners in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the ability to produce a heavy naval gun with its subsystems increases Türkiye’s weight in the alliance value chain, while offering an additional source of equipment compatible with interoperability standards.

For states that have relied on naval export restrictions, the outcome is different, as those measures have accelerated local programs that now support an export offer linked to offset arrangements. In an environment where frigate and corvette programs are multiplying in the Mediterranean, the Black Sea, and the Indo-Pacific, the combination of a 76 mm turret already exported and a national 127 mm gun positions MKE as an increasingly unavoidable interlocutor for navies seeking to diversify suppliers while retaining control over their support chains.