TCG Ufuk (A-591) was delivered to the Naval Forces Command with a ceremony attended by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. TCG Ufuk, Turkey’s first intelligence ship with a length of 99.5 meters, can cruise for 45 days without interruption.
The ceremony was attended by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Minister of National Defense Hulusi Akar, MIT Chief Hakan Fidan, Chief of General Staff General Yaşar Güler, Naval Forces Commander Admiral Adnan Özbal, Deputy Minister of National Defense Muhsin Dere, Presidency Communications Director Fahrettin Altun, President of Presidency Defense Industry İsmail Demir, AK Party İzmir Deputy Binali Yıldırım and many names including STM General Manager Özgür Güleryüz attended to the ceremony.
STM Defense Technologies Engineering and Trade Inc. was the main contractor of the Test and Training Ship Project, which was initiated by the Presidency of Defense Industries (SSB) on March 31, 2017.
As part of the project, the TCG Ufuk (A-591) ship was launched on February 9, 2019, with a ceremony attended by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. TCG Ufuk (A-591) was put into service today with a ceremony held at Istanbul Maritime Shipyard in Tuzla, Istanbul.
Able to detect threats to national security immediately
The corvette has the distinction of being Turkey’s first intelligence ship, produced with national means and capabilities. A technology that only a few countries have in the world, has been made available to Turkey with the Ufuk Corvette.
With a length of 99.5 meters, a maximum width of 14.4 meters, a capacity of 110 personnel, a displacement of approximately 2 thousand 250 tons, and a draft of 3.6 meters, a 10-ton helicopter will be able to land on the Ufuk Corvette. The Ufuk Corvette will be able to instantly detect threats to national security by navigating uninterruptedly for 45 days, including international waters, under severe climatic and sea conditions. The locality rate of Ufuk Ship reached 70 percent, which approximately 194 domestic companies contributed.
We became the country that has a say in the region
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, speaking at the inauguration ceremony of TCG Ufuk, touched on the developments in the defense industry.
Headlines from President Erdogan’s statements:
“I believe we have made a good start to 2022 by experiencing important developments one after the other in the critical projects of our defense industry. We have become a country that has a say in its region with the breakthroughs we have made. Despite all the embargoes, Turkey’s ability to make the moves required by its national interests is thanks to the developments in the defense industry. We have made up for the deficiencies of the past, we are making preparations for today.
We focus on implementing systems that require high technology. Our studies and applications for complex systems continue rapidly. We are rapidly moving towards catching up with the advanced countries in the world. Our eyes are in space. We continue to work on developing both launch systems and satellite systems in the space field.
We have a say in the region
The proper defense of our country, surrounded on three sides by the sea, is only possible with the defense of the blue homeland. We can manufacture our national warships, seismic research ships, coast guard ships, and boats ourselves. We have reached a locality rate of up to 70 percent. We have become a country that has a say in its region with the breakthroughs we have made.
Export to 25 countries
We produce armed unmanned sea vehicles. We are working to make them move in flocks. Our country’s first intelligence ship, Ufuk, was developed with national engineering capability. Now we go one step further and focus on high-tech products. We exported 180 naval platforms to 25 countries from the shipyards. We will also give you new news about this.
Our strength in the seas will increase
Our intelligence ship, which we will put into service, is an important opportunity. Thanks to this ship, our power will increase in the seas as well as on land and in the air. Our country is currently among the 10 countries in the world that can nationally design, build and maintain a warship.”
“The security of the Motherland passes through the defense of the Blue Homeland”
Defense Industry President İsmail Demir in his speech at the commissioning ceremony stated that the TCG Ufuk ship is a good example for the unity of forces of the soldiers who adopt the phrase “The security of the Motherland is through the defense of the Blue Homeland” and said, “The implicit-explicit embargo and similar restrictions applied against our country show that we cannot be dependent on abroad in any area of our defense industry.”
İsmail Demir, referring to the words of Barbaros Hayreddin Pasha, “Who rules the seas, rules the world”, under the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, especially our glorious army, the security units continue to work to go further in this regard with all their might to increase their power in Blue Homeland.
With the projects carried out by the Presidency of Defense Industries, many platforms serve at sea and fly the Turkish flag, Demir said that “Our projects are implemented in our military and private shipyards, under the coordination of our Presidency, with the support of our Naval Forces and Coast Guard Commands, and with the support of our relevant public institutions, thanks to a wide cooperation network with main and subcontractor companies, SMEs, universities and research centers. We have developed and continue to carry out projects in a wide range of areas, from combat forces to support elements, from search and rescue to combating irregular migration and smuggling, from police stations and patrols to search for mineral resources, not only in the military but also in the civilian field.”
“We cannot be dependent on abroad in any area of our defense industry”
Demir pointed out that, with the will of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, they have put 4 Ada Class corvettes into service in the MİLGEM Project so far:
“The 5th ship of this project will be the first national frigate of our country, and the construction of Istanbul, which we will put into service in 2023, continues. Our test and training ship Ufuk, built under the responsibility of STM, which is also the main contractor of our Istanbul ship, is put into service today. I would like to express my gratitude to our main subcontractor, Istanbul Maritime Shipyard, to our 194 companies that worked on the ship, especially to the subcontractors ASELSAN, HAVELSAN, İŞBİR, ANEL, YALTES, GÜRDESAN, MEG GEMİ and POYRAZ, and to Türk Loydu.
In addition, I would like to thank our Naval Forces Command, with whom we walked together in all naval projects, and who did not spare us their experience and support in this project as well. This ship is a good example of the unity of power of the soldiers, who adopt the phrase “The security of the Motherland is the defense of the Blue Homeland”. The implicit-explicit embargo and similar restrictions applied against our country show that we cannot be dependent on abroad in any field of our defense industry.”
“Mavi Vatan’da çok daha güçlü ve caydırıcı bir deniz gücü için çalışmayı sürdüreceğiz”
Noting that they continue to work to be 100 percent domestic and national, especially in critical technologies and strategic areas, in line with the instructions of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Demir said, “I would like to express that many of the critical technologies imported in the past in our naval projects were realized with domestic and national resources. Now we develop, use and even export many sub-systems ourselves, from our air defense systems to our anti-ship missiles, from electronic warfare and radar systems to electro-optical sensors, infrared search and tracking systems, vertical launch systems, and SONAR system.”
Demir stated that they will continue to work for a much stronger and deterrent naval power in the Blue Vatan and concluded his words as follows :
“We will continue the construction of new platforms of the type and features needed and the modernization of our vehicles in the inventory. We will strengthen our navy with our Anadolu ship, which is under construction, with our Marine Supply Combat Support Ship and a new type of submarines, with our armed unmanned sea vehicles of which we are developing various types with the latest technology, with our İ-class frigates whose tenders will be finalized very soon, with our aircraft carrier you have given your instructions and our TF2000 air defense destroyer.
The instructions of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who has provided and led our Presidency in every way since the first day, are very clear. We are committed to our goal of fully independent defense industry. We sincerely believe that any kind of restriction imposed on our country and our Presidency, implicitly or explicitly, will make us stronger. I would like to thank once again all the stakeholders who contributed to the project and wish that our ship Ufuk will be beneficial for our country and nation.”
Subcontractors working on the ship built under the main contractor of STM with the SSB project
“Istanbul Shipyard (The shipyard where the ship was built). ASELSAN (Design, production, and integration of mission systems on board-Radar, Communication, Ship Navigation Systems). HAVELSAN (ADVENT Combat Management System, Ship Data Distribution System, Ship Integrated Information System, CCTV System, Message Operating System). İŞBİR (Generator production onboard), ANEL (Design, supply, production, and integration of ship electrical system infrastructure). YALTES (Integrated Platform control and monitoring system and design and manufacture of onboard consoles)”