The Underwater Defence ( tr, Su Altı Savunma), or SAS, is the one and only EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) unit of the
Turkish Navy, based in the
Foça
Foça is a town and district in Turkey's İzmir Province, on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast. The town of Foça is situated at about northwest of İzmir's city center. The district also has a township with its own municipality named Yenifoça (lite ...
Naval Base near
İzmir
İzmir ( , ; ), also spelled Izmir, is a metropolitan city in the western extremity of Anatolia, capital of the province of the same name. It is the third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara and the second largest urban agglo ...
, on the
Aegean coast of
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
The missions of the Su Altı Savunma (SAS) include coastal defence operations, such as clearing mines or unexploded torpedoes, and disabling enemy IEDs.
History
The first S.A.S. unit was established in 1964 in the city of
Istanbul
Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...
, The original name of the S.A.S. unit was ''Su Altı Müdafaa'' (S.A.M.) and is bound to the ''Kurtarma ve Sualtı Komutanlığı'' (K.S.K.), or ''Rescue and Underwater Command''.
Mission
Their main tasks are:
* Deactivation or disposal of explosive material, mines and/or unidentified ordnance under the water off the friendly ports and coasts.
* Deactivation or disposal of explosive material, mines and/or unidentified ordnance under the water off the target coasts or ports. That includes clearing of the target beaches of mines, explosives, booby traps and tank traps, prior to the amphibious assault of the friendly forces.
* Deactivation or disposal of explosives and mines that might be present on the course of the friendly troops and/or VIP military personnel.
* Consultancy in defending the strategic facilities against stealth assaults by enemy commandos.
SAS units do not perform assault, counter-terrorism, recon or CQC missions. A real-time duty executed by the SAS has been the clearing of the Girne Beach, Cyprus, prior to the amphibious assault of the Turkish Armed Forces to the island in 1974.
Equipment
Handguns
*
SIG P226
Sig used as a name may refer to:
*Sig (given name)
*Sig, Algeria, a city on the banks of the Sig River
*Sig Alert, an alert for traffic congestion in California, named after Loyd Sigmon
*Sig River, a river of Algeria also known as Mekerra
sig (lo ...
*
Glock
Glock is a brand of polymer- framed, short recoil-operated, locked-breech semi-automatic pistols designed and produced by Austrian manufacturer Glock Ges.m.b.H. The firearm entered Austrian military and police service by 1982 after it was th ...
Submachine Guns
*
H&K MP5A3
The Heckler & Koch MP5 (german: Maschinenpistole 5) is a 9x19mm Parabellum submachine gun, developed in the 1960s by a team of engineers from the German small arms manufacturer Heckler & Koch. There are over 100 variants and clones of the MP5 ...
Assault Rifles
*
M4 carbine
The M4 carbine (officially Carbine, Caliber 5.56 mm, M4) is a 5.56×45mm NATO, gas-operated, magazine-fed carbine developed in the United States during the 1980s. It is a shortened version of the M16A2 assault rifle.
The M4 is extensively ...
*
MPT-55
The MPT ( tr, Millî Piyade Tüfeği, en, National Infantry Rifle) is a modular rifle family designed by MKEK and produced by MKEK, Sarsılmaz Arms and Kalekalıp to meet the demands of the Turkish Armed Forces and to replace its aging rifles ...
Machine Guns
*
FN Minimi
*
M60 machine gun
The M60, officially the Machine Gun, Caliber 7.62 mm, M60, is a family of American general-purpose machine guns firing 7.62×51mm NATO cartridges from a disintegrating belt of M13 links. There are several types of ammunition approved for ...
*
M134
The M134 Minigun is an American 7.62×51mm NATO six-barrel rotary machine gun with a high rate of fire (2,000 to 6,000 rounds per minute). It features a Gatling-style rotating barrel assembly with an external power source, normally an electric ...
Sniper Rifles
*
Barrett M82A1
The Barrett M82 (standardized by the U.S. military as the M107) is a Recoil operation, recoil-operated, semi-automatic rifle, semi-automatic anti-materiel rifle developed by the American company Barrett Firearms Manufacturing.
Also called the ...
*
Barrett M95
*
MKEK JNG-90
*
Remington XM2010
Remington may refer to:
Organizations
* Remington Arms, American firearms manufacturer
* Remington Rand, American computer manufacturer
* Remington Products, American manufacturer of shavers and haircare products
* Remington College, American ...
*
CheyTac Intervention
The CheyTac Intervention also known as the CheyTac M200, is an American bolt-action sniper rifle manufactured by CheyTac USA, which can also be classified as an anti-materiel rifle. It is fed by a 7-round detachable single-stack magazine (an opt ...
*
McMillan TAC-50
Anti-Materiel Rifles
*
Barrett M82A1
The Barrett M82 (standardized by the U.S. military as the M107) is a Recoil operation, recoil-operated, semi-automatic rifle, semi-automatic anti-materiel rifle developed by the American company Barrett Firearms Manufacturing.
Also called the ...
*
MKEK JNG-90
Rockets & Explosives
*
RPG7
The RPG-7 (russian: link=no, РПГ-7, Ручной Противотанковый Гранатомёт, Ruchnoy Protivotankoviy Granatomyot) is a portable, reusable, unguided, shoulder-launched, anti-tank, rocket-propelled grenade launcher. Th ...
*
M72 LAW
The M72 LAW (light anti-tank weapon, also referred to as the light anti-armor weapon or LAW as well as LAWS: light anti-armor weapons system) is a portable one-shot unguided anti-tank weapon. The solid rocket propulsion unit was developed in th ...
*
M203
*
M79
References
External links
Promotional/Training video of unit
See also
*
Underwater Offence (Turkish Armed Forces)
The Underwater Offence ( tr, Su Altı Taarruz), or SAT, is the special operations forces unit of the Turkish Navy. Turkish Navy's first and only navy commando unit consisting of highly skilled soldiers selected from among the officers and petty of ...
*
Underwater Search and Rescue Group Command (Turkey)
Turkish Naval Forces
Explosive ordnance disposal units and formations
Armed forces diving
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