IDEF 2025 – Otokar, production running and looking for new contracts
At IDEF 2025 Otokar, the Koç Group company active in the military and commercial automotive sectors, displayed 10 armoured vehicles, among them a Cobra II 4×4 in the Romanian Army configuration, and the Tulpar. While no brand-new vehicles were unveiled this year, the company is engaged in producing vehicles for foreign customers, the order book being about to be further beefed up
To take the pulse of the situation EDR On-Line met the Otokar General Manager, Aykut Özüner. “Let me start wit our presence at IDEF. It is true that we do not unveil any new product, however we are presenting most of our vehicles in different configurations. Moreover, we are showcasing for the first time our Mizrak turret in the light version, armed with a 25 mm cannon. It has a mass around 1.3 tonnes and can be installed over a Cobra II 4×4 vehicle. Serial production of this new turret will start in 2026, and we already started to offer it to our customers, some nations having already show considerable interest,” the company General Manager stated. “Among other vehicles, we are showing here for the first time in Turkey the Cobra II in the Romanian Army configuration as well as the Tulpar, fitted with Leonardo HITFACT 120 turret,” he added, the latter configuration having been exhibited at Eurosatory one year ago.
Coming to production, Aykut Özüner told EDR On-Line what is currently being produced on the assembly lines of the company Sakarya facility. “This year we have two main programmes running, that are keeping busy our production lines, those for Romania and Estonia. In the last couple of months, we have manufactured a total of 170 Cobra II vehicles, over the total number of 278 that we will deliver to the Romanian Army by late November this year.” This number was established in the contract, as well as the creation of a new production facility where the remaining 781 Cobra II will be produced. “The new manufacturing facility in Romania is almost finished. It is located in Mediaş, close to Sibius, around 240 km north of Bucarest, and the plant is now 85% finished,” Otokar General Manager said.
“We should have it fully finished by late August, in order to be able to start production in September,” around eight months after the kick-off and around four months after the 50/50 joint venture betweenOtokar and Automecanica S.A. of Romania was established. “Between September and December, we will have the ramp-up period, and we aim starting delivering the remaining Cobra II vehicles from the Romanian production plant early next year. It is a very important step for us establishing a plant in the European Union,” Aykut Özüner underlined. ER On-Line understood that the new facility will count 150-180 people in Q4/25, between white and blue collars. In the first year 15-20% will be from Otokar and will be responsible for the transfer of technology to the local manpower, numbers that will then be reduced. “I must say that we found qualified personnel in Mediaş, so starting the operation should prove quite smooth,” the Otokar GM underlined.
The second major programme running at Sakarya is related to the contract with Estonia, which is related to ARMA 6×6 armoured personnel carriers. It included 230 vehicles, part Otokar Arma 6×6 and part Nurol Makina NMS; the exact split has not yet been made public.
“We started delivering last year, and around September we will have finished this production. The Estonian Army has already started deploying them, and the feedback is positive, which makes a good reference for us for other potential deals.” Both Romania and Estonia might need further vehicles, Otokar awaiting developments.
Other contracts for smaller numbers are also running and include the production of other Cobra II and Ural.
Otokar’s total revenues for 2024 amounted to US$950 million (including commercial activities), “however 2025 will see much higher numbers with the main deliveries of the two aforementioned contracts,” the General Manager said.
Otokar is pretty active in promoting its business, and IDEF was a very good opportunity to meet several delegations. “We have some new project that might lead to lucrative contracts, for big numbers of vehicles,” Aykut Özüner told us, mentioning the Middle East, South America, the Far East, and Europe, although this might take some time.
The increase in defence spending, which is evident in Europe but affects many other countries around the world, considering that tension is spreading worldwide, is of course a potential boost for the Istanbul headquartered company. As an example, the Tulpar fitted with the Leonardo 120 mm gun exhibited at IDEF is among the products that drew interest “from at least three customers in two continents,” the Otokar General Manager let us understand. The turret integration is close to completion, EDR On-Line understood, and first firings should take place in the coming months, quite probably in Europe.
Photos courtesy Otokar and P. Valpolini
