The Estonian Centre for Defence Investment (ECDI) has awarded Otokar, the global land systems manufacturer of Türkiye, a contract for the supply of ARMA 6x6 Armored Personnel Carriers, at a value of around EUR 130 Million including maintenance equipment and training services. The deliveries are planned to be initiated in the second half of 2024 and completed by 2025.
The agreement was signed between Magnus Valdemar Saar, ECDI (Estonian Centre for Defence Investments) Director General and Sedef Vehbi, Otokar Military Cluster Head on October 18th, 2023 in Estonia.
The signature ceremony was held in attendance of Estonian Defence Minister, Hanno Pevkur and Turkey’s Defence Minister Yaşar Güler. Following the LOI (Letter of Intent) signed between two countries’ Defence Ministers, a protocol on cooperation in defense industry between Turkey and Estonia was also signed by Magnus Valdemar Saar, ECDI Director General and Haluk Görgün, SSB (Turkish Defence Industry Agency) President.
The decision to purchase the 6x6 vehicles was made through a strong international competition and very thorough both commercial and technical evaluation of Estonian Defence Forces (EDF) where combat proven ARMA 6x6 stood out with its superior technical capabilities.
“Otokar is proud to have a chance to serve with its ARMA 6x6 Armored Personnel Carrier to Estonian Land Forces,” said Sedef Vehbi, Military Cluster Head of Otokar,
“Thanks to our combat proven know-how in land systems and related R&D, engineering and testing capabilities, nearly 33 thousand Otokar military vehicles are actively in service in more than 40 countries and nearly 60 end users in different climates and geographies around the world. Specifically ARMA 6x6 has a combat proven success in different parts of the world and Estonia will be the second NATO country fielding ARMA,” she added.
“Being a listed NATO and UN supplier, we value this award very much and consider it as a very important milestone for our ARMA vehicle family. We strongly believe that this initial contract will be a beginning of a long lasting relation between Estonian Defence Forces and Otokar,” she concluded.
Otokar’s multi-wheeled modular armored vehicle ARMA is actively used by 5 different users in different geographies of the world. The armored vehicle offers superior mobility, high mine and ballistic protection, as well as medium and high-caliber weapon system integration options. Offering high tactical and technical features, ARMA, available with a wide range of variants, is combat proven in the most demanding terrain and climatic conditions.
ARMA 6x6 stands out especially with its high payload capacity and large interior volume. ARMA can be equipped with various mission equipment, and manned / unmanned turrets according to the user needs. The ARMA 6x6 platform can be used for various missions as surveillance, recovery, armored personnel carrier, armored combat vehicle, command control, reconnaissance, and CBRN reconnaissance vehicle while different armament systems can be integrated into the vehicle.
