EDR On-Line met Nail Kurt, the FNSS CEO, in the company stand at IDEF. This was the biggest IDEF in terms of product range, in all areas, not only on land sector, and in terms of the local products developed, this has been the biggest ever,” Mr. Kurt stated, adding that the many product launches were mostly aimed at meeting today’s new warfare era, taking in count not only the several lessons learned from the Russia-Ukraine war, but also some coming from the Middle East, especially on defending your own territory from air threats and from long-range effectors
“There is an irony here, as everyone up until 2-3 years ago, thought there was not much we could do against those big missiles coming from overseas, available only to a few players in the world. But over the last three years, an imminent threat came from toys, literally toys; you can hook a grenade to a small $200 to one of those, and it becomes a nightmare to protect yourself against it. I think this has been the biggest change.”
How much this impacted FNSS? “We need to do whatever we need to in terms of evolving threat definitions, which has always been a continuous increase in protection, what I have been trying to say over probably the past 10 years is now becoming real, which is that protection is not necessarily heavy armor. Size matters, not being seen in the first place, followed by not being detected, among the first priorities in the ‘protection onion’ concept. I think there is a more acceptance towards that concept, and at this edition of IDEF I have not seen any customers saying, why don’t you have level 5, level 6, level 10, whatever you use. Rather than they are saying, wow, this is a small size, it’s a low profile vehicle, this is good. So maybe in our part of the world, the customer needed to be educated, and this happened on the hard way, they learned it in the field,” the FNSS CEO said.
The major unveiling on the FNSS exhibiting area was without any doubt the Kaplan FRSV. “I am proud with my folks to come up with something like that. This vehicle was very well received by those armies who have cavalry concept. But also those that are more infantry and armour minded understood it can be of big use, because you don’t necessarily face main battle tanks with main battle tanks. The Kaplan FRSV can really use as an armoured fighting vehicle in a reconnaissance role, and at the same time be able to hit a main battle tank once it has been identified,” Nail Kurt underlined, the vehicle being able to host several systems that can further improve its situational awareness, ranging from one-way ISR UAVs, to tethered drones, to basic signal intelligence systems.
“Reconnaissance is a complex mission, which should be complemented by more than one vehicle type, such as 6×6 and 8×8 special purpose vehicles we are providing to the Turkish Land Forces, which have been defined for several different mission roles, which are complementing each other. On the other hand we do reconnaissance by fire. So, different specialties are doing it in different ways, as their role is different. I think we need both reconnaissance by stealth as well as reconnaissance by fire, all accompanied by drones that really complement everything. Not a single thing would do this very complex job in today’s very complex environment.”
Two major contracts should beef up the FNSS order book in the next few years, one export and one national. On July 25th during IDEF framework agreement enhancing localization of land systems industry in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) was signed between FNSS and SAMI Land. This was the clear sign that something was on its way in KSA concerning the future 8×8 of the Saudi Army and “may be” the Saudi National Guard. The agreement aimed the local manufacturing of new generation 8×8 armoured vehicles in the KSA in full Support of Kingdom’s Vision 2030, therefore it was not a coincidence that the new generation PARS Alpha 8×8 was unveiled in early 2024 at the World Defence Show in Riyadh. According to available information the requirement for an adapted version of the PARS Alpha, the turret will certainly be different, should definitely be in significant quantities. As the two services depend from different ministries it is quite probable that there will be two contracts, that will be signed with SAMI Land which will be the prime with FNSS as a technology provider, and should be of the multi-year type, with additional increments that will bring to the total numbers required. The agreement with SAMI Land show well the intention to produce most of the vehicles in KSA.
EDR On-Line understood that a single assembly line will be created in KSA, with probably a difference fitting in the last phase as well as a different paint scheme. The KSA facility should have a manufacturing capacity of 400-600 vehicles per year, the aim being to reach that production rate one year after the plant will become operational. This will of course lead to an increased cooperation between the two states, which might well be extended to subcontractors and to the supply line. As for the timeline, this might be delayed due to a priority given to 4×4 vehicles.
Coming to national requirements, it is now established that the contract for the 8×8 New Generation fighting vehicle of the Turkish Land Forces will be nearly equally split between BMC and FNSS. EDR On-Line understood that each configuration will be produced by one of the two companies. It will be interesting understanding how the military will deal with units that potentially might have in line two different platforms, certainly not the best solution from the training and logistic standpoint. The decision not to produce a same version on two different platforms might however not be definitive.
A first contract for a limited batch of vehicles seems to have been signed during IDEF, although no official confirmation was announced by the Turkish SSB. EDR On-Line understood this is not a Low Rate Initial Production contract allowing the development of all versions, industry hoping LRIP will materialise soon. According to information gathered, the driver for this production planning is mostly financial. While no numbers were announced, it should be well over the 1,000 mark, for a budget exceeding the 6 billion Euro on 10-15 years.
Currently the FNSS assembly line in Gölbaşı, near Ankara, is busy producing 6×6 and 8×8 Special Purpose Vehicles as well as Air Defence vehicles. “The first batch of Special Vehicles will be delivered in late Q1/26, and we are awaiting the contract for the next batch. As for Air Defence vehicles these are in the low rate but continuous production mode. “We are also working on modernising the TLF tracked ACV-15s, and we should get more orders for the Zaha amphibious vehicle, which however is being produced on a specific assembly line,” Nail Kurt explained. Apart from the aforementioned two major contracts, with the KSA and with Turkey for the 6×6 and 8×8 Next Generation, some more work might well come to FNSS: “We should get some new orders from Indonesia. On one hand their requirement for the Kaplan MT medium tank was for several hundreds and they currently acquired only 18, on the other their concept of operations for cavalry calls for one armoured personnel carrier every four medium tanks, which opens up a good opportunity for our Kaplan APC,” the CEO adds. A model of this Kaplan, which of course being an APC will have the powerpack moved to the front to give room for the infantry compartment at the rear, was exhibited at IDEF 2025. Should the total Kaplan MT requirement be fulfilled, this would mean some Kaplan APCs in considerably high quantities, and possibly some more in special versions.
The ZAHA amphibious vehicle might also see some consistent new orders; the Turkish Navy is considering increasing its amphibious capabilities, deploying a Corps, thus boosting the ZAHA production.
To answer the need for increased production capacity FNSS is first considering partnering with other companies, the first one being of course Nurol Makina, which is part of the same Nurol Group and already produces vehicles on behalf of FNSS, such as the PARS 4×4, other companies being also considered. The company facility has also space for building a new production facility, but this does not seem the priority, at least for the time being. Looking at the next 10-year plan FNSS might well double its turnover, with a ramp up that should happen in the coming 3-4 years.
Photos by FNSS and P. Valpolini