Nurol Makina Delivered First TOMAs to Libya
20 TOMAs required by the Libyan Ministry of Interior shall be provided within the framework of an agreement signed with Nurol Makina in September. Deliveries shall be made partially as 6, 6 and 8. Final delivery shall occur in May 2013. Within the scope of the programme trainings on usage and maintenance and repair shall be given to Libyan Ministry of Interior’s personnel both at the facilities of Nurol Makina and in Libya.
The ceremony, in which the first 6 TOMAs were delivered, took place at Nurol Makina’s facilities in Sincan. Murad Bayar, Undersecretary for Defence Industries, Nurettin Çarmıklı, Nurol Holding Chairman of the Board, Brigadier Ahmed Saad Al-Gatrani, General Secretary of Libyan Chief of Staff, Lütfi Varoğlu, International Relations Department Head of the Undersecretariat for Defence Industries, directors of Nurol Makina and representatives from the Libyan delegation attended the ceremony. Engin Aykol, General Manager of Nurol Makina made a presentation at the ceremony and mentioned that Nurol Makina is one of the oldest and well established companies in the Turkish defence industry and added that the company founded in 1976 realized many significant projects since the beginning of the 90’s where the breakthrough in Turkish defence industry took place.
In his speech, Aykol stated that they successfully carried out key projects on both Defence Industry and Homeland Security with using their indigenous design and manufacturing skills and that they shall continue to do so. “I proudly declare that Nurol Makina has the honour to become one of the main contractors of the Undersecretariat for Defence Industries with the armoured vehicle project signed at the end of year 2012” added Aykol. He also expressed that as Nurol Makina they attached great importance to exportation and underlined that they have been continuously strengthening cooperation with countries with strong ties such as Libya through projects which are convenient with country’s social structure and claimed that their support for trainings for the personnel and all maintenance, repair and spare part needs shall continue after the delivery of TOMAs (Riot Control Vehicles) to Libya.
Aykol: “We are ready to make technology transfer to Libya.”
Aykol stated that they hope to export armoured vehicles such as Ejder 6x6 and Ejder 4x4, the design process of which is on-going, to Libya and said: “We are ready to contribute to the development of Libyan Defence Industry through technology transfers while meeting Libya’s armoured vehicle needs.”
In his presentation, Dr Anıl Karel, Deputy General Manager of Nurol Makina, stated that Nurol Makina is one of the most prominent players of the sector on areas of armoured vehicles and special purpose vehicles with its experience in design and its infrastructure. Karel also emphasized that they had developed a manufacturing infrastructure and said: “We have developed a manufacturing infrastructure regarding especially to armoured vehicles. Our pressing machine of two thousand tons lets us shape the trunk of an 8x8 vehicle with a single move”. Karel also said that they attached great importance to the qualification tests and added that mine and ballistic test skills were among the significant skills they gained.
Karel: “We have accomplished more than 70 Ejder 6x6 sales since 2008”
Dr Anıl Karel made a comprehensive presentation on Nurol Makina’s skills on Defence Industry. Karel expressed their intention to form a broadly participated Ejder family and expressed that Ejder 6x6 armoured vehicles were the first 6x6 type vehicle that is indigenously designed in Turkey. Stating that they accomplished more than 70 Ejder 6x6 sales since 2008, Karel also said that the development of a second version of Ejder 6x6 armoured vehicles was in progress. In his speech, Karel also made important statements on the technology transfer to Libya: “Nurol Makina proposes to transfer technology to friendly and allied Libya in order to jointly manufacture Ejder 6x6. It is developed especially to meet the needs of the Turkish Armed Forces and Special Operations Department of the Turkish National Police”.
Karel: “We will unveil our latest 4x4 Armoured Vehicle at IDEF in May.”
Mentioning that they were continuing to exert efforts on the new 4x4 armoured vehicles with the help of their experiences on the 6x6 vehicles, Karel announced that the latest vehicle shall be unveiled at IDEF in May. “This vehicle shall be in a category that was never manufactured in Turkey before which is the 4x4 armoured vehicle of 12-14 tons. We are developing this vehicle in a way to meet the requirements of the Turkish Armed Forces and Turkish National Police’s Special Operations Department. This vehicle has efficient mobility skills not only in land conditions but also on the road. One of its prominent design features is its 4,5 tons of load carrying capacity. Owing to its specially designed independent suspension system, its land dominance is higher than other similar vehicles” said Karel. Stating that the concept of armoured vehicles went through a change, Karel also added that currently vehicles with increased ballistic protection and optimized mobility skills were being preferred instead of the hulky vehicles with relatively lower manoeuvre capabilities. In the last part of his presentation Karel gave information on the armoured Riot Control Vehicle TOMA which was manufactured within the scope of the agreement signed with the Undersecretariat for Defence Industries in December 2012 and said that they were continuing to manufacture the vehicle named as Ejder TOMA for meeting the needs of the Turkish National Police. Following the presentations, Turkish and Libyan delegations exchanged information and Brigadier Ahmed Saad Al-Gatrani, General Secretary of Libyan Chief of Staff gave brief remarks on the current relations and potential partnerships between Turkey and Libya.
Al-Gatrani: “Turkey is the first country that offered Technology Transfer to Libya”
Expressing their hopes for a future cooperation with Turkey, Al-Gatrani also mentioned that they were aware of Turkey’s high technology and Turkey’s sincerity on transfer of technology and other areas. “We are greatly pleased that Turkey is the very first country that offered technology transfer to Libya and we hope to further strengthen our affairs in the future.” added Gatrani. He referred to the importance of the two countries’ cooperation on the Defence Industry and said: “We wish governmental level cooperation and partnerships in Defence Industry between private enterprises of both countries. We will invite Turkish businessmen to the meeting of businessmen that shall take place in Libya”.
Al Gatrani stated about the third world countries’ perception of the European products that they had better quality and expressed his hope that this perception would change with the joint projects and partnerships between Turkey and Libya. Murad Bayar, Undersecretary for Defence Industries also underlined that the Turkish and Libyan relations based on Defence industry shall be developed with the solidarity both in governmental level and among the private sectors of the two countries and continued: “We are suggesting Libya all the Turkish Defence industry products that are being used by the Turkish Army”. Following the speeches, Nurettin Çarmıklı, Nurol Holding’s Chairman of the Board presented plaques to Murad Bayar, Undersecretary for Defence Industries and Brigadier Ahmed Saad Al-Gatrani, General Secretary of Libyan Chief of Staff. At the end of the ceremony, Turkish and Libyan delegations watched the demonstration of the Ejder 6x6 and TOMA vehicles and visited and examined the facilities.
TOMA (Riot Control Vehicle)
TOMA vehicles were first manufactured by Nurol Makina Sanayi in Turkey. The Riot Control Vehicles used by the Turkish National Police, Gendarmerie General Command and other law enforcement agencies abroad, are manufactured in four models namely TOMA 2500, TOMA 6000, TOMA 10000 and Ejder TOMA. TOMA vehicles may be manufactured in various configurations according to the demands of the armed forces. Beside their computerized water spray system, TOMA vehicles also feature Water, Paint and Gas Injection systems. TOMA vehicles have water tanks of 6, 8 and 10 tons capacity varying according to their models and they have 60 litres of gasholders, 60 litres of paint tanks and 90 litres of froth tanks. In addition to their Short and Long Duration Injection and Continuous Injection systems, TOMA vehicles also contain 4 types of injection systems consisting of plain water injection, water and paint injection, water and gas injection, water-paint-gas injection. TOMA vehicles have systems for preventing injuries and protection against threats. These systems are comprised of the following:
Ballistic protection (in line with Level III A in NIJ Standards) in the vehicle cabin, fuel tank, battery and air reservoir,
Special design that prevents climbing to the vehicle,
Bulldozer with height adjustment for crossing the barricades on the streets and closed circuit TV system, image recording DVR system, recording facility with zooming capacity used for identifying the criminals in the riots/demonstrations and for the feedback trainings of the users,
Announcement, siren and light system,
Protection for all the window and lighting equipment against stones and/or impacts with steel case,
Fire foam that could be shot from the water reservoir for extinguishing the burned street barricades and other vehicles on the streets,
Gas spraying facility through several gas injection points on the vehicle for preventing the demonstrators/rioters from climbing to the vehicle and fire foam spraying (both over and under the vehicle) facility for preventing the vehicle from burning caused by Molotov cocktails or in cases where the vehicle is crossing over other combustible materials.
