Ufuk signals step-change for Turkish intelligence collection
TCG Ufuk pictured in December 2021 before it was officially commissioned the following month. (Photo: Cem Devrim Yaylali)
Turkish efforts to improve COMINT and SIGINT capabilities took a step forward in mid-January when TCG Ufuk (A-591) was commissioned into the country's navy.
Prime contractor STM officially described it as a test and training ship although, in reality, Ufuk is the first indigenously built vessel designed to deliver data for the Turkish National Intelligence Organization (MIT).
Boosting at-sea intelligence collection is important to Turkey for two main reasons. It reduces the risks associated with low-level aerial reconnaissance (a Turkish Air Force RF-4E aircraft on a SIGINT mission was shot down over Syria in 2012, for example); and it also enhances
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