The Turkish navy sent the electronic warfare corvette “Ufuk” to sail the Aegean Sea a few days ago, as THEMA is in the position to know. The situation between Greece and Turkey is fast approaching a critical junction, as the Turks continue to escalate their provocative actions in the region.

It is the first time the electronic jamming and interception ship sailed into the Aegean, revealing Turkey is not willing to de-escalate tensions but on the contrary, is ready to add fuel to the simmering conflict.

The TCG UFUK has a length of 99.5m, the width of 14.4m, a draft of 3.6m, and displacement of 2,400t. It features a landing deck for a 10t helicopter.

The ship can accommodate 110 crew members and has an endurance of 45 days in harsh weather and sea conditions, including in international waters. It can operate as a single platform or with other units.

The vessel is installed with the equipment required to provide SIGINT/ELINT capabilities. The onboard equipment provides early warning, communication, and reconnaissance capabilities.

Furthermore, the ship features equipment to gather strategic information, such as electromagnetic, hydro-acoustic, and electro-optical devices.

The exit of the Turkish ship coincides with the conduct of the Greek-French exercise “Argo 22” which is taking place in the Pagasitikos gulf, Skyros, and Agios Eustratios. From a relative distance, the Turkish spy ships observed the Greek-French high exercise which was completed on Saturday in the Central Aegean.

The large French amphibious assault helicopter carrier, which carries small catamarans and a strong force of French marines, as well as Greek frigates, tankers, submarines, Apache attack helicopters, and commandos from the Marine Brigade, participated in the exercise. The Greek-French exercise, carried out in the framework of the Greek-French defence agreement, seems to have disturbed the Turkish leadership, so it sent the “Ufuk” corvette to the Aegean to monitor the training.

The appearance of “Ufuk” in the Aegean, initially off Kalymnos and then towards Skyros and Agios Efstratios, mobilised the relevant Greek services to deploy counteractive measures. Unconfirmed reports say that an attempt was made by the Navy to protect the planning of the exercise and prevent possible interception of sensitive information by the systems of the Turkish corvette “Ufuk”.

Turkish “fishing”

Cross-referenced intelligence indicates that in the Erdogan regime’s attempt to create a climate of tension in the Aegean, a special role seems to have been assigned to Turkish “fishermen”, who in recent days have increasingly entered Greek territorial waters where they find catches. Ignoring the fact that they do not have permission to fish in Greek territorial waters, the Turkish “fishermen” with their large fishing boats move defiantly and do not back down even when the vessels of the Greek Coast Guard approach them and ask them to stop their illicit activities and to leave the Greek shingles zone.

Sources with knowledge of the details of several incidents recorded in the last few days in the Aegean state that the Turkish “fishermen” react highly aggressively and even provoke the Greek port authorities and officers when asked to depart the Greek territorial sea and stop illegal fishing, replying that they are allegedly in Turkish waters!