As part of Turkey's plans to expand its homegrown arsenal of weapons and move toward a self-reliant defense industry, the country is preparing to build its own reconnaissance vessel for intelligence gathering.The Defense Industry Executive Committee, which oversees the state's defense acquisitions, decided to acquire a locally-made intelligence gathering vessel at its latest meeting.The ship, purpose-built for electronic intelligence gathering, will also deploy three unmanned aerial vehicles and will be able to stay offshore for over 60 days without docking.The reconnaissance ship is among some of the most ambitious defense projects for which the committee has earmarked almost $9 billion this year. It follows Turkey's development of a range of homegrown weaponry including warships, gunships, tanks, infantry rifles and its domestic fighter made entirely using local technologies and materials.Turkey has geared up its efforts in order to lower its dependence on other countries in the defense sector as it faces multiple security threats.