Turkey’s first major domestically made warship, the TCG Heybeliada, will be formally delivered to the Turkish Navy on Tuesday, September 27, Hurriyet Daily News reported.

A second ship of the same “corvette” class – small, maneuverable and lightly armed – will be put to sea at an Istanbul ceremony expected to be attended by President Abdullah Gül.

The Turkish Navy’s moves come amid rising tensions with Israel in the eastern Mediterranean.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Defense Minister İsmet Yılmaz, Chief of General Staff Gen. Necdet Özel and other dignitaries will also attend the ceremony at the Turkish Navy’s Pendik shipyard in Istanbul.

The TCG Heybeliada and the TCG Büyükada, which will be put to sea from the Pendik shipyard, are the first two ships in Turkey’s MİLGEM program, from the Turkish words “Milli Gemi” (National Ship). The program calls for the design, development, outfitting, integration and construction of 12 patrol and anti-submarine warships, four of them optional, produced with the eventual objective of exporting the vessels to allied and friendly countries.