ANKARA—Defying concerns in the industry that the program may be put off indefinitely, the Turkish government has officially launched an ambitious mission to build the country's first indigenous frigate.

Speaking at a high-profile 'first welding' ceremony, Turkish Defense Minister Fikri Isik said that a flurry of successful naval programs have put Turkey into the small league of 10 countries that can design and build warships.

He said: "Building a national [indigenous] naval fleet is one of the top priorities for the government."

Naval industry sources had feared that the frigate program could face uncertainties due to technological limitations and high costs. "We are glad to have been mistaken," said one industry official. "The frigate program will give a major boost to the industry, including subsystem makers."

Isik said that Turkey's seven privately-owned shipyards and military-owned shipyards have a combined warship construction portfolio worth $5.5 billion.

He said that that business volume would reach $12 billion in the medium to long term as several new planned programs for the construction of support ships, frigates, assault boats and fast boats will have been launched.

Turkey's next target, the minister said, is to design, develop and build the warfare systems for naval platforms.

The I-class frigate is the first of a batch of four vessels Turkey plans to construct. It has a height of 113.2 meters and a width of 14.4 meters. Its maximum speed is 29 knots per hour.

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Before the frigate program had been launched, Turkey's most ambitious naval program was the construction of four indigenous corvettes. Officials say Turkey's local input in the corvette program, dubbed MILGEM, was 65 percent.