Hungary procures 56 additional Gidran armoured vehicles

The Hungarian armed forces have procured 56 additional Gidran armoured vehicles from Turkish company Nurol Makina under a contract signed in 2024, according to a 4th February statement made by Hungary’s defence minister, Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky following a visit to Nurol’s factory in Turkey.

“This next batch of Gidran armoured vehicles will roll out from our the Gidran Armoured Vehicles (GAV) company facility in Győr, a local venture that we have set up with Raba Automotive,” Emre Akin, Head of Strategic planning at Nurol Holdings told Calibre on the 7th February. 

Deliveries will begin in 2025 with the vehicles manufactured at Nurol’s Turkish facility and assembly conducted by GAV. “In a few years’ time, we will have transferred as much of the production of the vehicles to the Győr facility as possible, integrating an even higher percentage of Hungarian and European components,” Akin added. 

The new order comes in addition to 50 Gidran vehicles already procured by Hungary between 2019 and 2020 for a total of 106 vehicles. They will be supplied in various configurations and are designed to be networked allowing the sharing of data between platforms and other units of the Hungarian armed forces. “Depending on the variant, they are fitted with a remote weapon station, radios, battle management system, surveillance systems etc., in Hungary,” Akin explained. 

Győr is a city approximately 120 km from Budapest, and hosts Raba Automotive, which is an established manufacturer of truck axles, chassis, and axle components. The company states on its website that every third truck in Europe has a component manufactured and delivered by Raba. Nurol and Raba signed an agreement forming a joint venture in December 2023 under which the two companies will work to establish Gidran production in Hungary with as much involvement from Hungarian industry as possible. 

Győr is also home to a large Audi factory, which manufactures drive trains for Audi cars like the Q3, as well as body components for Audi and Volkswagen vehicles. In 2023, the factory produced more than 1.6 million drivetrains and 177,000 vehicles. The city’s location and established record of being an industrial hub no doubt make it well-suited for hosting the Gidran production line. 

Tech profile: Gidran

The Gidran is shown here navigating a steep incline at Nurol’s factory. The vehicle has been modified to meet specific Hungarian requirements. Credit: Nurol Makina

The Gidran is based upon Nurol Makina’s Ejder Yalçin, a 4×4 protected mobility vehicle; there are more than 1,200 Ejder Yalçins in service with 11 different users in various configurations. The vehicles are operationally proven with the Turkish Land Forces, and footage played by Nurol at the International Armoured Vehicles conference this year showed one of the vehicles withstanding the blast of a very large IED during an operation, the five passengers reportedly all survived despite the 14 tonne vehicle being thrown in the air. They are powered by a 375 hp Cummins engine providing a top speed of 120 km/h and some variants are armed with the SARP remote weapon station from Aselsan, in 2023 it emerged that Hungary had also purchased the E-Lynx family of radios from Elbit Systems, which will be fitted across its vehicle fleet including the Gidran. 

Calibre comment

Hungary has launched an extensive and ambitious modernisation of its armed forces including the procurement of Lynx IFVs from Rheinmetall and Leopard 2A7s from KNDS as well as the Gidran. For most of its new vehicles, Hungary has worked to establish local joint ventures with the prime helping to rebuild the country’s defence industrial base. Nurol is also offering the Ejder Yalçin to the UK as the Dragon for the country’s Medium Protected Mobility Vehicle programme, and has established a factory in the UK to facilitate its entry into the UK market. Other competitors for the requirement are understood to Include General Dynamics with the Foxhound, which is already in service with the UK, KNDS with its Dingo 3, and Thales with the Bushmaster.

By Sam Cranny-Evans, published on 7th February, 2025.