During a press tour organised by the Turkish Ministry of Defence and centred on the Atiş Serbest Turkish Land Forces fire coordination exercise, EDR On-Line had the opportunity to visit the MKE premises in Ankara where the oldest Turkish defence company carries out the integration of its 76/62 mm National Naval Artillery Gun. During the same visit we also got confirmation that a future 127 mm is in the pipeline
Formed on June 30th, 1453, as the Ottoman Royal Cannon Foundry, this 573 old company was given its current name, Makine ve Kimya Endüstrisi (MKE), Mechanical and Chemical Industry Corporation, in 1950. Wholly owned by the Turkish MoD, it has 14 facilities in Turkey.
One of these is the Makine ve Teknoloji Fabrikası, the Machinery and Technology Factory, located in the Mamak district of Ankara. It is here that MKE assembles its 76/62 mm National Naval Artillery Gun, also known as the Denizhan-76 (King of the Sea). The facility has been completely renovated to host the assembly area, where three naval guns can be assembled at the same time. Major components come to the facility from other MKE facilities, notably the 62-calibre barrel which is produced by the Heavy Weapons Factory located in Kırıkkale, some 60 km east of the Turkish capital.
Testing tools allow verifying the correct functioning of the main sub-assemblies, hydraulic system, feeding system, and breech, before the assembly. Once the gun is assembled factory tests are carried out before moving to the range for static tests, acceptance tests being then performed once the system is installed on board the ship.
The Denizhan-76 has become the standard gun on board many classes of Turkish Navy ships, replacing the same calibre Oto Melara gun on new platforms, including the Istanbul-class frigates. MKE has already bagged two export orders, the first with the Indonesian Navy; the contract was announced in July 2025 during IDEF and included three guns to be installed on the 90-metre offshore patrol vessels being built by PT Daya Radar Utama. Acceptance tests for the Denizhan-76 destined for the Indonesian Navy have been completed.
The second contract, the first for a NATO and European Union country, saw the signature of a contract with Romania for a single gun installed on the light corvette Contraamilar August Roman, which was delivered by ASFAT, the Turkish state-owned defence, on June 20th, 2026. The Denizhan-76 began its operational deployment in Romanian waters on board ROS CA Roman in early October 2026, being used operationally for the first time by a foreign navy.
ASFAT is also the prime contractor for the the TF-2000 air defence destroyer, the first Turkish ship that will host the new 127/54 mm gun, which is currently being developed by MKE and is known, at least for the time being, as Denizhan-127. Company sources confirmed that the tests conducted in late November 2025 were successful. EDR On-Line understood that the development barrel of the new gun was fitted to the BAE Systems MK45 gun installed on board TCG Fatih (F-242), and that those tests included a reduced number of shots. TCG Fatih is a Turkish Navy Yavuz-class frigate which is currently used as test bed platform to validate and integrate new nationally-developed systems.
Since then, MKE R&D department has been busy in pushing forward the work for the development of the whole gun system, and we understood that a prototype is in the final stage of development. The first unit to be fitted with the new 127 mm calibre national gun will be the TF-2000; that same morning EDR On-Line had the opportunity to visit ASFAT, where it was confirmed that the DDG should be delivered in 2031, although dates are subject to customer decisions. It is clear that MKE is aiming at completing testing before the ship enters service.
Company sources confirmed that the Denizhan-127 will be assembled in the same facility where the Denizhan-76 is being integrated, from where the ninth 76/62 mm gun was delivered to the Turkish Navy in early October 2026. No detailed information was provided about the compatibility of the integration facility with the bigger and heavier turret.
Talking ammunition, the Turkish Navy is currently using 76 mm rounds produce by foreign companies, however MKE is developing the ammunition in that calibre and should soon start manufacturing; EDR On-Line understood that the production of 76 mm HE (High Explosive) rounds should start early in 2027, with fragmentation rounds production following before year end, while firing trials continue. Logically, the same path will be followed for 127 mm ammunition, which will allow the Turkish Navy to rely on an entirely national supply chain for naval artillery.
As for advanced ammunition, such as long range or guided ones, their development takes longer time and higher investments. Should the Turkish Navy need such capability it is quite probable that initially these rounds will be acquired on the market. That said it is clear that the Turkish defence industry of the 2020s has the technology to develop new and advanced rounds according to the its national customer requirement.
Photos courtesy MKE, Romanian Navy, P. Valpolini
