The first mass-produced domestic and national engine designed and developed by Turkish engineers to enter the inventory of the Turkish Armed Forces was named “Tuna”, and the first engines were shipped.
Presidential Defense Industry Presidency executives, representatives of subcontractors involved in the project and BMC Power employees attended the ceremony held at BMC Power’s Arifiye facilities for the first shipment of the Tuna engine.
In his speech at the ceremony, Presidential Defense Industry Vice President Celal Sami Tüfekci said that the serial delivery of the engine is important in terms of showing Turkey and the world how the Turkish defense industry can be a team.
Expressing that the “we can’t do” mentality is far behind in high-tech and value-added production, Tüfekci said, “With this delivery, we are showing what we can do with our own design and production capabilities.” said.
Tüfekci stated that starting from the platforms to be strengthened by these engines, domestic and national platforms, especially the Altay tank, will be strengthened with engine projects such as Batu, Utku and Azra.
“WHAT THE HEART IS THE ENGINE”
BMC Executive Board Member and Top Manager Murat Yalçıntaş emphasized that a new peak has been reached today in BMC’s story that started in 1964.
“While designing and producing engines whose design and parts belong to someone else, we have come to the point where we design and manufacture an engine whose design and more or less all critical parts belong to us.” Yalçıntaş said, “What is the heart in a person, the engine and power group are in a vehicle. It is a great honor to be able to produce the engine of a military platform locally. This means that no one will be able to impose anything on the use of engines, the platforms on which they are mounted.” used the phrases.
Expressing that BMC Power has turned into a company that shapes the future, Yalçıntaş stated that domestic engines will be fitted to the Fırtına howitzer soon, and that they will soon begin mass production deliveries of Altay tanks.
Regarding the renaming of the project, known as the Tactical Wheeled Armored Vehicle Engine (TTZA), Yalçıntaş said, “His brothers had a name. He was the youngest in the family, maybe that’s why he didn’t have a name. As of today, we are naming the youngest member of our family. It proves it, it powers a platform, so it deserves a name. That’s why we’re going to give it a name.” made its assessment.
“A MESSAGE TO A FRIENDLY ENEMY”
Stating that 2023 will be the year of BMC, Yalçıntaş said, “We see that the seeds we planted with great care are growing and turning into saplings. In 2023, we will have many saplings, which will turn into rooted trees in the future.” he said.
Stating that the delivery of domestic engines from Arifiye and Sakarya is very important and symbolic, Yalçıntaş said:
“The Arifiye factory is the apple of the eye of Turkey. It has a very different and important place. These engines are national engines and are largely domestic engines. In this sense, they are the symbols of economic independence. They are engines that we can use as we wish, without being subject to any restrictions from any other state. This is economic independence. Sakarya plays a very important role in Turkey’s independence, it is the turning point of our independence. Sakarya, which is the turning point of our national independence, is an indicator of my economic independence in defense. This is a message to friends and foes alike.”
“DOMESTIC MOTOR JOURNEY WILL CONTINUE”
Mustafa Kaval, General Manager of BMC Power, said that they are operating to minimize foreign dependency on power and transmission systems.
Stating that as a company, they carry out power group projects from 400 to 1500 horsepower, Kaval explained that the development work for the Tuna engine started in November 2018, and road tests were carried out in different climatic and geographical conditions such as Erzurum and Antalya.
Informing that the first 20 engines were ready for shipment within the scope of the project, Kaval said:
“The first mass production engines of our 6-year-old young company will set out to be integrated into Vuran vehicles. The vehicles will then enter the inventory of the Turkish Armed Forces. Thus, a tactical wheeled vehicle with a domestic engine will be included in the Turkish Armed Forces inventory for the first time. Our mass production journey has started in our works. This journey will continue with Azra, Utku and Batu engines and other projects.”
After the ceremony, domestic engines loaded on BMC Tuğra trucks were shipped to the company’s factory in Izmir to be integrated into BMC Vuran multi-purpose armored vehicles. 90 of the engines will be delivered in the first stage. (AA)