BMC, one of Turkey's leading military vehicle manufacturers, has started to deliver the first mass-produced domestic and national motorised tactical wheeled armoured vehicles designed by Turkish engineers to the Turkish Armed Forces under the leadership of the Presidency of Defence Industries.
During the ceremony held at the facilities in Pınarbaşı, İzmir, 100 tactical wheeled armoured vehicles with domestic engines produced by BMC were delivered.
In his speech at the ceremony, Prof. Dr. Haluk Görgün, President of the Presidency of Defence Industries, said: “With our increasing experience, capability and determination to work with the projects we carry out as the Presidency, we look to the future with more hope.” Görgün stated that 50 of the vehicles delivered belong to the Land Forces Command, 40 to the Gendarmerie General Command and 10 to the Land Forces Command.
Fuat Tosyalı, Chairman of the Board of Directors of BMC, said: “As BMC, we are proud to have increased the localisation rate of our KİRPİ and VURAN vehicles to ?” Tosyalı emphasised that this delivery is an important step towards Turkey's indigenisation targets in the defence industry.
Delivered Vehicles:
- 90 units of VURAN 4×4 Multi-Purpose Armoured Vehicle: VURAN 4×4, which has a 9-person carrying capacity and offers high protection and mobility, provides high protection against mine and ballistic threats. These vehicles can successfully perform missions such as sensitive point protection, patrol and convoy protection. VURAN also has versions that can be integrated with different weapon systems. VURAN 4×4 vehicles with indigenous engines are also used in Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina as part of the NATO Peacekeeping Force.
- 10 KİRPİ II 4×4 Mine Resistant Vehicle: KİRPİ II, which is an improved version of KİRPİ, which stands out in mine protection, improves handling and passenger comfort with its independent suspension system. KİRPİ II has special equipment such as CBRN protection system and firing location target detection system. The KİRPİ family has different versions such as ambulance and mine detection vehicle and is used in many countries outside Turkey.
Engine Used in Delivered Vehicles:
TUNA Engine 400 horsepower, 8.4 litre, in-line type 4-cylinder domestic engine manufactured by BMC POWER. This engine was tested for 6,500 hours at the test centre and 140 thousand km on the vehicle and successfully passed NATO endurance tests. In 2023, TUNA engines, whose serial production started, were shipped to BMC İzmir Pınarbaşı facilities.
BMC Defence
BMC continues its R&D and technology investments as one of the pioneers of domestic and national production in the defence industry. The company focuses on meeting the needs of friendly and allied countries, especially the Turkish Armed Forces. BMC produces military land vehicles in many different fields such as main battle tanks, armoured vehicles, military trucks and logistics support vehicles.
The ceremony was attended by Prof. Dr. Haluk Görgün, President of Defence Industries; General Selçuk Bayraktaroğlu, Commander of the Turkish Land Forces; General Ali Çardakçı, Commander of the Gendarmerie General Command; and Fuat Tosyalı, Chairman of the Board of Directors of BMC.
