Turkey moves to build warships with Africa’s most powerful military, expanding its Pakistan shipbuilding model into North Africa

Turkish Naval Forces Commander Admiral Ercüment Tatlıoğlu announced the ambition on November 9, 2026, during the Sea of Friendship-2026 naval exercise off Alexandria, according to Anadolu Agency.

Speaking on the exercise’s Distinguished Observer Day, he said Ankara wanted to take its naval defence-industry relationship with Cairo beyond military cooperation and into joint shipbuilding under Türkiye’s MILGEM (National Ship) programme.

“By advancing our defence industry cooperation in the naval domain to a further stage, we aim to carry out joint shipbuilding activities with Egypt under the MILGEM Project, similar to the cooperation we have undertaken with Pakistan,” Tatlıoğlu said.

The proposal points to a potential shift in Egypt‘s naval procurement strategy, from purchasing completed foreign-built vessels towards developing domestic shipbuilding capabilities through technology transfer and industrial partnerships.

However, neither country has announced a specific warship class, Egyptian shipyard or procurement contract for the proposed MILGEM collaboration, according to report by Military Africa.

The proposed naval cooperation would build on a series of defence-industry agreements between the two countries, including a $350 million deal reported by Business Insider Africa in July 2026 that could position Egypt as a manufacturing and export base for Turkish military equipment.

Under the agreement, Turkish defence manufacturer MKE is expected to supply Egypt with its $130 million Tolga short-range air-defence system, designed to detect and counter drones and other low-flying threats.

The remaining $220 million will support a joint Egyptian-Turkish company and local factories producing 155mm artillery ammunition and 7.62mm and 12.7mm ammunition for Egypt’s armed forces and export markets across Africa and the Middle East.

Other Turkish defence companies are also strengthening their presence in Egypt. Defence electronics manufacturer Aselsan opened a representative office in Cairo in December 2025 to serve the Egyptian military and local customers. It has also explored partnerships with Egyptian companies in air defence, military communications, electronic warfare and vehicle modernisation.

The shipbuilding proposal follows a model Türkiye has already pursued with Pakistan, where cooperation under MILGEM has involved the construction of Ada-class corvettes for the Pakistani Navy. For Egypt, a similar arrangement could create opportunities to develop domestic shipbuilding expertise, maintain locally produced vessels and potentially adapt the designs to its own naval requirements.

Cairo has experience with this approach through its cooperation with France’s Naval Group. The first Egyptian Gowind 2500 corvette, El Fateh, was built at the company’s shipyard in Lorient, while the remaining vessels were assembled at Alexandria Shipyard.

A Turkish-Egyptian MILGEM partnership could extend this industrial approach to another major defence supplier, further broadening Egypt’s international military partnerships.