Turkey goverment had signed a $ 151.3 million contract with Turkish defense company Aselsan to upgrade Turkish Army ACV-15 armored personnel carriers. FNSS announced on its website the same day that it had signed a subcontracting agreement with Aselsan on 31 December for the modernisation of the vehicles. FNSS said it would conduct all upgrade activities, prototype production, qualification, integration of all equipment, turret production, and logistics support for the platform.
ACV-15 is the designation of an amphibious armored combat vehicle family developed by the Turkish defense company FNSS Savunma Sistemleri A.Åž..This vehicle also manufactured by DefTech of Malaysia. The design is an attempt to combine the capabilities of an infantry fighting vehicle (IFV) and an armoured personnel carrier (APC). The ACV-15 is based on the American Advanced Infantry Fighting Vehicle, which in turn is based on the American M113A1 armored personnel carrier.
There are nearly 2,650 FNSS-made ACVs and IAPCs currently serving in the Turkish Armed Forces and the Armed Forces of the United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the Philippines. Deliveries began in 1991, with the last of these vehicles being delivered to the Turkish Armed Forces in 2004. The ACV and IAPC, which can operate independently or together with tanks, still constitute the backbone of Turkish infantry forces.
These vehicles have recently been used in various operations, and FNSS has been working for some time of modernisation packages to improve their survivability, situational awareness, firepower and mobility of these. With this modernisation package, prepared by taking user feedback into account, the aim is to update the vehicles according to the changing threat landscape, to increase their performance, and to lengthen their lifespan, such that they may serve better during their time in the inventory.
