Speaking at the ceremony held at the facilities of BMC, one of Turkey’s important military vehicle manufacturers, in Izmir Pınarbaşı, Defense Industry President Prof. Dr. Haluk Görgün thanked those who contributed to the project.
Explaining that they are proud to deliver domestically powered armored vehicles, Görgün said:
“50 Vuran vehicles entered the Land Forces Command, 40 Vuran vehicles entered the Gendarmerie General Command and 10 Kirpi vehicles entered the Land Forces Command inventory. Thank God, the Turkish defense industry is in an area that the world watches with envy, where we are proud to work and honored to serve. “We not only meet the needs of our distinguished security forces and armed forces, but also do our best as the entire ecosystem to meet the needs of friendly and allied countries.”
Haluk Görgün pointed out that the Turkish defense industry has very strong technology resources.
Reminding that they reached an export figure of 7.1 billion dollars last year, Görgün said, “We had a target of 6.5 billion dollars. We achieved this by 29 percent. The amount of export contracts signed by Turkish defense industry companies in the last 2 years alone is 20 billion dollars. We are not only successful with our technology, but also with our cost “We strive to meet the needs of allied countries with our effective solutions.” he said.
Main battle tank will enter mass production
Providing information about the 2025 activities of the Presidency of Defense Industries, Görgün said:
“Our good news and expectation regarding land vehicles is that our main battle tank will be released from mass production and delivered to our heroic army right at the end of the second half of this year. This will be an important development. In addition, our kamikaze studies, the completion of M60 tanks to be delivered at least two per month, the armored ammunition Delivery of assault vehicles, signing of contracts for our new generation 6×6, 8×8 vehicles, special purpose technical wheeled armored vehicles ÖMTTZA in 5 different variants. “Completion of configurations and qualifications and delivery of our vehicles within the scope of GZPT and ACV modernization will be among our activities in terms of land vehicles in 2025.”
It’s the turn of the Altay tank
Commander of the Land Forces, General Selçuk Bayraktaroğlu, also stated that tactical wheeled armored vehicles, which are one of the important maneuver elements of the land operation, continue to be one of the main elements of the battlefield with their speed, armor protection, reconnaissance and surveillance and fire capabilities.
In line with this need, Bayraktaroğlu stated that the Kirpi-1 vehicle was included in the inventory of the Land Forces Command since 2011, and new models were developed by adding additional capabilities and systems to the vehicles based on the experiences gained in the following period, and said, “If we accept that there are currently around 1500 armored vehicles in our inventory, today Kirpi From new generation patrol vehicles to new generation tactical armored vehicles, Vuran carries the burden of the operation carried out especially in the north of Iraq and Syria. “We all see that it is a system that makes a positive contribution. Today, we are adding the 100th tactical wheeled armored vehicle equipped with a domestic engine to our inventory, which is the concrete result of our efforts. It is the turn of the Land Forces’ main battle tank, Altay, which is the product of Turkish engineers and the Turkish defense industry.” he said.
Gendarmerie General Commander General Ali Çardakçı stated that they are rightfully proud of taking another important step towards modernization.
Emphasizing that this success is not just about numbers, Çardakçı said, “Our defense industry has made great progress with policies prioritizing domestic and national production under the leadership of our President, and has brought technological superiority to our country’s struggle for independence. Our defense industry gaining a national identity has been a very important turning point in the modernization process of our gendarmerie organization. Today it was delivered.” “These vehicles we purchased are a concrete and proud reflection of this vision.” he said.
“Locality rate in Hedgehog and Vuran is 95 percent”
BMC Chairman of the Board of Directors Fuat Tosyalı stated that they have delivered the first mass produced domestic and national motorized tactical wheeled armored vehicles as a reflection of all the investments they have made to date.
Emphasizing that this delivery is a very important step towards the goals of increasing the localization rate in the country’s defense industry and reducing foreign dependency, Tosyalı said, “As of today, we are proud to have increased the localization rate to 95 percent with the engine in the Kirpi and Vuran vehicles produced by BMC. It meets the tactical needs of the Turkish Armed Forces.” “I hope that these vehicles, which have been made fully responsive and ready for duty, will be beneficial to our country and nation.” he said.
After the speeches, Defense Industry President Prof. toured the facility. Dr. Haluk Görgün received information from the authorities.
AK Party İzmir Deputy Ceyda Bölünmez Çankırı, Yaşar Kırkpınar, MHP İzmir Deputy Tamer Osmanoğlu, AK Party Provincial Chairman Bilal Saygılı, MHP Provincial Chairman Veysel Şahin and other relevant persons attended the ceremony.