The Underwater Defence (), or SAS, is the one and only EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) unit of the

Turkish Navy The Turkish Naval Forces (), or Turkish Navy (), is the naval warfare service branch of the TAF. The modern naval traditions and customs of the Turkish Navy can be traced back to 10 July 1920, when it was established as the ''Directorate o ...

, based in the

Foça Foça is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of İzmir Province, Turkey. Its area is 251 km2, and its population is 34,946 (2022). The town of Foça is situated at about northwest of İzmir's city center on the Aegean Sea, Aege ...

Naval Base near

İzmir İzmir is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara. It is on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, and is the capital of İzmir Province. In 2024, the city of İzmir had ...

, on the Aegean coast of

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

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 is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

, 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 The SIG Sauer P226 is a full-sized service pistol made by SIG Sauer. This model is available in four chamberings: the 9×19mm Parabellum, .40 S&W, .357 SIG, or .22 Long Rifle. It has the same mechanism of operation as the SIG Sauer P220, but i ...

Glock Glock (; stylized as GLOCK) is a brand of polymer- framed, short-recoil-operated, striker-fired, locked-breech semi-automatic pistols designed and produced by Austrian manufacturer Glock Ges.m.b.H. The firearm entered Austrian military an ...

Submachine Guns * H&K MP5A3 Assault Rifles *

M4 carbine The M4 carbine (officially Carbine, Caliber 5.56 mm, M4) is a 5.56×45mm NATO assault rifle developed in the United States during the 1980s. It is a shortened version of the M16A2 assault rifle. The M4 is extensively used by the US mi ...

* MPT-55 Machine Guns *

FN Minimi The FN Minimi (short for ; "mini machine gun") is a Belgian 5.56mm or 7.62mm light machine gun, also classified as a squad automatic weapon developed by Ernest Vervier for FN Herstal. Introduced in the late 1970s, it is in service in more than ...

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 Cartridge (firearms), cartridges from a disintegrating Belt (firearms), belt of M13 links. There are sev ...

* M134 Sniper Rifles * Barrett M82A1 * Barrett M95 * MKEK JNG-90 *

Remington XM2010 Remington may refer to: Businesses * Remington Arms, an American manufacturer of firearms, ammunition, and related products, 1816–2020 ** Remington Ammunition, an American brand operated by Vista Outdoor since 2021 ** Remington Firearms, an A ...

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 seven-round detachable single-stack magazine ( ...

McMillan TAC-50 The McMillan TAC-50 is a long-range anti-materiel rifle. The TAC-50 is based on previous designs from McMillan, which first appeared during the late 1980s. From May 2017 until November 2023, it held the record for the longest confirmed sniper ki ...

Anti-Materiel Rifles * Barrett M82A1 * MKEK JNG-90 Rockets & Explosives * RPG7 * M72 LAW * M203 * M79

References

External links

Promotional/Training video of unit

History

Mission

Equipment

References

External links

See also