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DENİZKURDU-2021 Exercise Kicks Off on May 25 with The Participation of Over 25 Thousand Personnel

The SEA WOLF (DENİZ KURDU) 2021 Exercise, which takes place every two years, will be held in the Aegean Sea and the Eastern Mediterranean between May 25 and June 06, 2021. A total of 25,500 personnel will participate in the Exercise, which will be conducted in 3 phases under the management and administration of the Turkish Naval Forces Commander Admiral Adnan ÖZBAL and the Naval Warfare Command with 132 Ships, 10 Submarines, 43 Aircraft, 28 Helicopters, and 14 Unmanned Aerial Vehicles from 10 Public Institutions.

Date: May 24, 2021

The press conference of the DENİZKURDU-2021 Exercise, which was closely followed by İbrahim SÜNNETÇİ from our magazine, was held on Monday, May 24, at Gölcük Naval Warfare Center - Preveze Hall with the participation of DENİZKURDU-2021 Exercise Director and Naval Training and Education Commander Rear Admiral (LH) Yalçın PAYAL, Mine Warfare Group Commander Rear Admiral (UH) Ayhan GEDİK, Naval Forces Command Chief of Naval Operations Rear Admiral (LH) Hasan ÖZYÜRT, and Naval Warfare Center Commander Captain Timur YILMAZ.

Naval Warfare Command - Exercise Control Center 

Providing information about the course, execution, and purpose of the exercise, DENİZKURDU-2021 Exercise Director Rear Admiral Yalçın PAYAL said, "One of the Planned Exercises of the Naval Forces, DENİZKURDU-2021, will be held between May 25 and June 06 in the Aegean Sea and the Eastern Mediterranean. Exercise DENİZKURDU-2021 aims to test the organizational effectiveness of the headquarters and operation centers of the Naval Forces Command and its affiliated commands, evaluate the judgment, foresight, and decision-making capabilities of Headquarters personnel and the elements participating in the exercise in a high threat environment, and increase the training levels of the Navy elements by testing the cooperation and support procedures with other Force Commands and Public Institutions. Having completed its operational level preparation training with the BLUE HOMELAND (MAVİ VATAN) 2021 exercise within the framework of its annual exercise program, the Turkish Naval Forces will carry out its strategic level training based on the generic scenario with the DENİZKURDU-2021 exercise with much broader participation. Our Naval Forces, which continue their activities with high operational tempo in all seas, will have the opportunity to test their abilities with this exercise."

Stating that 12 Frigates, 9 Corvettes, 18 Fast Attack Crafts, 10 Submarines, 11 Mine Hunters, 16 Patrol Ships, 33 Auxiliary Ships, 24 Landing Ships, 11 Fixed-wing Aircraft, 16 Helicopters, 14 Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, Naval Special Operations Forces (SAT & SAS), and Amphibious Naval Infantry and Amphibious Assault Teams from the Naval Forces Command will participate in the exercise, Rear Admiral PAYAL added that 132 Surface Ships, 10 Submarines, 43 Aircraft, and 28 Helicopters, and 14 Unmanned Aerial Vehicles from the Turkish Armed Forces will also take part in the exercise, including Attack and Utility Helicopters from the Land Forces Command; Fighter Aircraft, Airborne Early Warning & Control (AEW&C) and Transport Aircraft from the Air Force Command; Search and Rescue (SAR) Team and Search and Rescue Helicopter from the Gendarmerie General Command; Special Forces Teams and helicopters from the Special Forces Command; and lastly Search and Rescue Corvette, Coast Guard Boats and Coast Guard Helicopters from the Coast Guard Command.

Answering our magazine's Senior Editor İbrahim SÜNNETÇİ's question in the Q&A session of the press conference about whether new munitions and weapon systems will be tested during the exercise Rear Admiral PAYAL said:

"The DENİZKURDU exercises are generally executed at the strategic level, and trying newly procured munitions or weapon systems is not part of their primary purpose. Therefore, we test our new weapon systems in the other activities that are planned independently from these exercises. This exercise is carried out to test all capabilities, personnel, materials, equipment, doctrine, and procedures at the strategic level. No specific weapon system was planned to be tested."

PHASE-I "Operational Preparation" - PHASE-II " Free Play" - PHASE-3 "Distinguished Observer Day"

During the exercise that will start with PHASE-1 "Operational Preparation" on May 25-27, PHASE-2 "Free Play" will be held between May 28-June 02, and PHASE-3 "Distinguished Observer Day and Harbor Visits" will be held between June 02-05.

The "Operational Preparation" phase, which will include Anti-Surface Warfare (ASuW), Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW), Air Warfare/Air Defense (AW/AD), Amphibious Warfare, Mine Warfare, Electronic Warfare (EW), Live Firing, Joint Training, Coastal Troops Training, Submarine Personnel Rescue Training, Maritime Control Operation, and Asymmetric Threat Training, will start on May 25 with the movement of troops and ships from bases and ports. During this Phase, Basic Naval Warfare and live firing training will take place.

In the "Free Play (Force-on-Force Freestyle Training)" phase, crisis management training based on a scenario, which was prepared with the participation of all Forces, will be carried out under the command of the Exercise Control Center of the Naval Warfare Center.

In the last phase of the exercise, which will be held between June 02-04, 2021, 83 ships will conduct 22 port visits in the Aegean Sea and the Eastern Mediterranean. Within the framework of COVID-19 measures this year, the ships will not be opened to public visits.

DENİZKURDU-2021 Exercise Distinguished Observer Day is expected to be held in the Eastern Mediterranean on June 05, 2021, with military and civil officials and foreign military attachés as observers, and President Recep Tayyip ERDOĞAN is expected to attend the exercise on the distinguished observer day.

Within the framework of COVID-19 measures, the "Distinguished Observer and Press Day," where members of the press follow the exercise from the ships, will not be held this year as part of the measures taken by the Ministry of National Defense.

İbrahim SÜNNETÇİ - GÖLCÜK Naval Warfare Center Command