Defence in brief: 100 new armoured vehicles for Turkey

Turkey’s BMC has delivered 100 protected mobility vehicles to the Turkish Land Forces and Gendarmerie General Command with domestically manufactured engines for the first time, according to a 10th January press release. The delivery includes 50 of the 19 tonne 4×4 Vuran and 10 of the 19.7 tonne 4×4 Kirpi II to the Land Forces, with 40 Vurans also delivered to the Gendarmerie. The new engines are called Tuna and produce 400 hp, they have been developed in Turkey to reduce dependence on foreign equipment and suppliers and replace Cummins engines in the Kirpir. The engines entered mass production at the BMC POWER facilities in Sakarya Arifiye in 2023, before being shipped to BMC’s defence division for integration into the vehicles that were being produced. 

The production of the 100 vehicles was completed in 2024 and they were offered to the Turkish armed forces before delivery commenced. Delivery of the mass produced vehicles was completed on the 10th January with a ceremony at BMC’s factory. The Kirpi is a well-used vehicle with the Turkish armed forces and it has been exported to several other countries including Ukraine and Libya’s Government of National Accord. They have also been used operationally by Turkish forces in Syria, where they have contributed to improved survivability. Turkey’s steps to increase the level of domestically produced components permeates the entire defence industry, and engines for armoured vehicles in particular have proven a challenging hurdle to overcome. However, with this announcement, and the anticipated arrival of Altay main battle tanks with domestic engines, it seems as though Turkey may have addressed this issue.