Following the contract signature, the project kick-off meeting was held on October 14, in accordance with the decision of the Defense Industry Executive Committee (DIEC/SSIK) dated March 9, 2016, FNSS will develop a total of 260 vehicles, 184 of which are tracked and 76 of which are wheeled, as well as 64 KORNET-E Weapon Turrets and 196 OMTAS Weapon Turrets. All tracked & wheeled platforms and turret systems are expected to be included in the inventory of the Turkish Armed Forces by 2022

We will briefly glance at the history of the project such as the number vehicles procured and the far-reaching test campaign that commenced from the outset of the program schedule.

The ATV Project tender that adopted the local Production and Integration model initially started 11 years ago. At that time, the Undersecretariat for Defense Industries (SSM) (now SSB) had issued an RFP (Request for Proposal) on March 7, 2008 for the procurement of 1,075 tactical wheeled armored vehicles and an Integrated Logistics Support System to meet the needs of carrier vehicles for TOW, Milan and 40mm Automatic Bomb Launchers that were available in the inventory of the Turkish Land Forces Command, and for the KORNET-E ordered by SSM under the OMTAS Direct Procurement Project, and for the Medium Range Antitank Weapon (OMTAS) Missile Systems developed by Roketsan. The breakdown of the vehicles had been determined as 350 TOW, 344 Milan, 229 40mm Automatic Bomb Launchers and 152 OMTAS Carriers. On December 15, 2008, BMC, FNSS, HEMA Industry, Nurol Makina and Otokar submitted their bids and soon afterwards the number of vehicles was reduced to 846 vehicles that excluded 229 40mm Automatic Bomb Launcher Vehicles and then reduced to 260 vehicles as per the request of the Land Forces Command.

Within the scope of the STA Project, on June 21, 2013, an RFP was issued to FNSS and Otokar for a total of 260 vehicles (184 tracked & 76 wheeled), FNSS Savunma Sistemleri A.Ş. had become the successful bidder and the signing ceremony was held on June 27, 2016 at the Undersecretariat for Defense Industries with the participation of FNSS, SSM (SSB) and MoND officials. The project kick-off meeting was held on October 14, 2016 in accordance with the decision of the Defense Industry Executive Committee (DIEC/SSIK) dated March 9, 2016, FNSS will develop a total of 260 vehicles, 184 of which are tracked and 76 of which are wheeled, as well as 64 KORNET-E Weapon Turrets and 196 OMTAS Weapon Turrets. The detailed design of the vehicles was approved by SSB and the Turkish Land Forces in the 15th month of the project and qualification tests started on December 3, 2018. Within the scope of the test campaign the following tests were carried out; 

EMI/EMC test campaign of KAPLAN Anti-Tank Tracked Vehicle was carried out between 6-28 May, PARS test campaign was successfully accomplished between June 13- July 5, 2019. 

The Comprehensive Mobility and Durability test campaign was carried both with the KAPLAN ATV and PART ATV as well. Within the scope of planned-schedule program, KAPLAN ATV accomplished these tests in December, 2018 between September,2019 as for PARS 4x4 ATV these tests were accomplished between January 2019 and December 2019. Within the frame of qualification tests, the KAPLAN ATV successfully completed the 10,000 km durability driving test including performance tests on snowy terrain and the KORNET Turret qualifications as well as the PARS 4x4 ATV also successfully passed the 20,000 km durability driving test.

The Environmental Condition test campaign was carried out for the KAPLAN Anti-Tank Vehicle between December 2018 and November 2019 and the PARS 4x4 ATV test campaign was completed between January 2019 and November 2019. 

The Mine Ballistic and Protection Test Campaign was completed for the KAPLAN ATV in September 2019 and for the PARS 4x4 ATV in March 2019. 

The Amphibious capability test campaign was accomplished for the KAPLAN ATV in September 2019. The PARS 4x4 ATV completed this test campaign between January 2019 and September 2019.

Within the scope of the ATV Project, the integration test of the OMTAS antitank missile developed by Roketsan onto the KAPLAN ATV Anti-Tank Vehicle was verified by the firing test performed with the participation of the teams of the Presidency Defense Industries (SSB) and Land Forces Command in Karapınar, Konya on February 13, 2019. During the test on April 6, 2019, performed with the OMTAS missile launched from the Remote-Controlled Anti-Tank Turret integrated onto the KAPLAN ATV, the firing test towards a moving target from a stationary vehicle was successfully performed. The video of the firing test with the OMTAS missile integrated onto PARS and KAPLAN vehicles (from a moving vehicle towards a stationary target) was made public on November 25 on the SSB’s official Twitter account. In the video the OMTAS missile is shown successfully hitting the target.

The test firing campaign of the KAPLAN ATV was successfully accomplished in December 2019. The delivery phase is expected to start in the upcoming period for the PARS 4x4 ATV after test firing and qualifications have been completed.