The new spy corvette Ufuk will greatly help Turkey's Intelligence Services (MIT) in intelligence gathering and at seas now, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.
In a speech at the launching of the new corvette Ufuk in Tuzla, Istanbul, the Turkish President said that "it will greatly contribute to the effective execution of security and intelligence gathering missions for our country at sea. We no longer want to buy from outside," he added.
"This is a new and important opportunity for our National Intelligence Service. I believe that our strength will increase at sea as well as on land and in the air, thanks to this ship, which has the most modern equipment that few intelligence agencies have in the world," the Turkish President said.
He added that "now, with the concept of an active defense as a vehicle, our country is prepared for the warfare environment of the future. The events around us, especially in the last 10 years, have shown us once again that it is not possible for nations without an independent defense industry to face the future with confidence. Turkey has become a country that is calling the shots in its region and spoiling what is already in place."
"Our country is already a world leader. It is among the 10 countries that can nationally design, build and maintain a warship, he claimed.
The Turkish president said that "ships and vessels are built in our country's shipyards for our own needs as well as for the whole world. In fact, we have exported 180 naval platforms to 25 countries so far," he said."
"We will strengthen our navy even more in the next 2 years. We are close to launching a tender for our TF-2000 destroyer (battleship). We will commission our helicopter ship Anadolu, with which we can conduct air operations with helicopters and UAVs that we will develop. We are breaking new ground by building three of our own warships at the same time. In addition to UAVs and SİHAs, we are designing systems in which unmanned and autonomous maritime vehicles can be used."
Source: KYPE
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