IAG Extends its Presence in Turkey
Defence Turkey: Mr. Alpay, first of all thank you for this interview. Would you please briefly provide us with information on the structure, capabilities and activities of the International Armored Group?
IAG was founded 20 years ago in Canada by Dr. Anton Stefov and upon requests from customers after its founding, production facilities were established at Ras Al Khaimah in the UAE in 2004, and soon after began to dominate the Middle East and North African markets.
IAG has over 85 vehicle models in the hidden armored vehicles, armored bank vehicles, tactical response vehicles, armored personnel carriers, armored SUVs and armored passenger transport vehicles segments that are manufactured at the protection level requested by its customers. IAE manufactures 100-120 armored vehicles each month at its UAE facilities. The facilities that started at the U.S. have a 20 vehicle per month capacity and the IAG Turkey facilities a 10 vehicle per month capacity.
Defence Turkey: Aside from your capabilities on armored vehicles, your Transparent Armor Systems company is conducting activities on ballistic glass production. What would you like to say on your capabilities and your investments on this subject?
Due to problems on the supply and quality we experienced on armored glass in the manufacturing of armored vehicles, we invested in our armored glass production plant, the Transparent Armor Systems (TAS), 2.5 years ago. With the quality and ballistic certificates we received from Germany, TAS is now the ballistic glass production facility with the most advanced technology and with the biggest capacity.
At the present time, aside from 200 set ballistic domed glass, a 1,000 m2 ballistic plate glass capacity facility will commence production in 2015 based on requests received in Turkey. We have started the necessary activities in founding the TAS Turkey production plant.
Defence Turkey: IAG has offices and production facilities in many regions. Would you provide us with information on the area of activities and capabilities of these offices and production facilities?
IAG and TAS provide its services in 8 countries at the present time. Our offices and capacities are as follows: IAG Canada, Headquarters and Corporate Sales Office; IAG America, Armored Vehicle Production Facility, IAG United Arab Emirates, Armored Vehicle Production Facility; TAS UAE, Armored Glass Production Facility; IAG Turkey, Armored Vehicle Production Facility, IAG U.K., Sales Office, IAG Yemen, Sales Office and Maintenance and Repair Facility; IAG Iraq, Sales Office and Maintenance and Repair Facility and IAG Bulgaria, Sales Office.
Defence Turkey: What would you like to say on your significiant investment in Bursa, Turkey? What will be the main activity of this facility?
Based on the success of the AIG Turkey Trading company that was established in 2013, AIG decided to commence production in Turkey in 2014. Production started in April 2014 and currently hidden armored Toyota Land Cruiser and Toyota Hilux Pickup vehicle production at a monthly 10 vehicle capacity is continuing. With new investments and with the new production facility, we plan to increase our monthly vehicle production capacity to 30 vehicles as of 2015 and with changes to the chassis of the Toyota Land Cruiser and the Ford F550, we plan to produce our armored personnel carrier models in our Turkey facilities.
Defence Turkey: Would you provide us with information on the collaborations you have undertaken with Turkish defence industry firms, SMEs and supply companies?
Currently IAG and TAS are collaborating with many Turkish SMEs and supply industry companies and the hidden armored civilian and military vehicles we produce are imported from Turkey.
Defence Turkey: What would you like to say on the programs you follow and the collaborations you have carried out within the needs of military and security organizations, VIP and public sector agencies in Turkey?
IAG’s existence in Turkey goes back 1 year. Currently we are collaborating with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the VR7 certified 4x4 SUVs. Talks on collaborating with the police and Special Forces on armored vehicles continue.
Defence Turkey: Would you please brief us on the investments and activities you have carried out on R&D?
During the first few months of this year we completed the tests on our new Tactical Response Vehicle and the Armored Personnel Carrier models and started production. At present, R&G work continues on independent suspension systems, power transmission elements and new protection levels. In the civilian vehicle segment, in line with the requests of our customers, we continue to develop the new hidden armored vehicle models.
Defence Turkey: In which regions are you active in the area of exports? What would you like to say on the markets and programs you are most effective?
We have exported to over 80 countries. The Middle East, Western Europe and North African countries make up a large part of our exports.
Defence Turkey: Lastly, do you have a message you like to give to our Defence Turkey readers?
Turkey is a country that is in the eyes of the world due to its strategic geographical location, its qualified, disciplined and productive labor force. We at AIG give importance to Turkey. With our increased armored production capacity and the ballistic glass plant that will start in 2015 we will continue our investments in Turkey.
