BMBT and BARIŞ Partnership

AN IMPORTANT STEP IN NATIONAL ARMOUR DEVELOPMENT:
BMBT & BARIŞ PARTNERSHIP

The ARGE 2004-Z (Development of a Composite Armor for a Helicopter Platform) Project was completed successfully. It was initiated on July 27th 2005 with the signing of the contract between Undersecreteriat for Defence Industries (SSM), Büyükmıhçı Bor Teknolojileri A.Ş. (BMBT) and Barış Elektrik Endüstrisi A.Ş. (BARIŞ),. The closing ceremony of the project which is essentially important for SSM, Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) and Turkish Defence Industry was held under the auspices of Undersecretary of Defence Industries, Mr. Murad BAYAR, on November 15th 2006 at BARIŞ facilities. The distinguished participants who are representatives of Turkish Armed Forces and Major Defence Organizations and Companies shared the achievements of BMBT and BARIŞ.

The aim of ARGE 2004-Z project is the design and production of a NATIONAL ARMOR, made of advanced technology ceramics and composites for Military Helicopters and other platforms, and is to acquire the technology to the Turkish Defence Industry.

Within this scope, the development, production, ballistic and environmental tests and integration of the armor prototypes to a helicopter were successfully performed.

The design activities were conducted in accordance with the project requirements; including the thickness-toweight ratio, geometry, ballistic and environmental requirements in accordance with military standards. As a result, Boron Carbide and Advanced Composite Armor Systems were determined as the best solution in protecting military helicopters, due mainly to their low weight and superior ballistic performances.

Project Achievements; a national armor solution against small caliber armor piercing ammunition was developed and the qualification was completed successfully for military helicopters.

During the realization of the project, national capabilities were utilized to the full extent. In this context, a systematical coordination was achieved with Turkish Governmental Organizations and Facilities, Universities and Institutes and Industry Enterprises.

THE PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN BMBT AND BARIŞ

The objective of BMBT is to perform R&D activities that enable synthesizing advanced materials from boron and elements alike, and producing end products for various industries. Some advanced ceramics within the scope of BMBT are; boron carbide, Titanium di-boron, alumina and silicon carbide.

Today BMBT is capable of new technologies and production methods in the armor field. One of these new technologies is the Reaction Bonding (RB), which was developed by M Cube in 2001 and BMBT is the second firm to develop this technology. It has a patent potential since both technologies have differences in terms of production methods. The second technology is the Hot Press Vapor Deposition (HPVD). It is developed by BMBT and enables the production of the armor materials in their design limits. It also has a patent potential.

BARIŞ has conducted several successful projects both in R&D and mass production areas for the national and international defence industry in the advanced composites field for over 20 years. It has a design and production experience in missile launchers, missile and war head bodies, pressurized tanks etc. Starting with M72 LAV Launcher production, the experience has been gained by European STINGER, ERYX Anti-Tank, TOROS, 122mm-missile Composite Tube, KMS-Cooling Gas Tank projects. Today, BARIª has become a leader in the related domestic market. Likewise, by actively participating in various national and international R&D projects on armor systems since 2000, BARIª has also gained a considerable success in this field as well.

Today, the existence of a significant technological armor infrastructure in BARIª can easily be claimed. Among these; L/S DYNA software for the analysis and simulation studies for various ammunition, Material Database including material suppliers and performances, Test Data Infrastructure including ballistic tests, environmental tests and performance tests, Mold Design with complex geometry, Hardware and Information Infrastructure including sensitive temperature and pressure controlled press and molds, Process Infrastructure about pressing, bonding, coating, painting and marking are all available. In 2004, BMBT and BARIª had set off together to satisfy the national requirements in armor field by embracing the partnership principles and setting the objective for a strong cooperation by combining their corresponding areas of activity. Through the signing of a MOU, the cooperation has reached to a solid base. ARGE 2004-Z as their first joint project has accomplished its objectives with a great success leading to a stronger partnership. In order to work together in the armor field, both companies have prepared the Armor Road Map and continue their joint effort with the guidance of this document.