The Turkish defense industry, a new program development led by the Turkish Company Aselsan in collaboration with FNSS has been launched to upgrade the ACV-15 AFV tracked Armored Fighting Vehicles of the Turkish armed forces. ACV-15 (ZMA-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.
FNSS developed the ACV-15 based on the AIFV to meet the Turkish Land Forces Command’s (TLFC’s) operational requirement. The first production vehicles were delivered in 1992. A total of 2,280 ACV-15s are in service with the Turkish army including 650 AFV (Armored Fighting Vehicle), 1,400 Armored Personnel Carrier, 50 ATV (Armored Tow Vehicle), and 180 AMV (Armored Mortar Vehicle). The vehicle is also in service with the United Arab Emirates and Malaysia. Malaysia ordered 267 ACV-15 in different versions in 2000, all of which have been delivered. The Malaysian variant of the AIFV is called the ACV-300 Adnan and is a result of a collaboration between FNSS and the Malaysian company DRB-Hicom Defence Technologies (Deftech).
The basic AIFV has a one-person power-operated turret armed with a 25mm cannon and 7.62mm co-axial machine gun. FNSS Defense Systems’ latest development is the Armored Combat Vehicle – New Generation which has an additional roadwheel each side. This can undertake a wider range of battlefield missions as it has greater internal volume and load-carrying capability. Standard equipment includes passive night vision equipment, an NBC (nuclear, biological, chemical) protection system and smoke grenade launchers. The ACV-15 can be fitted with a number of turret choices to tailor to individual customer requirements. They are also equipped with firing ports, which allows infantrymen to fire their weapons from within the vehicle.
The new vehicle will also be fitted with a new NEFER unmanned Remote Weapon Station designed and manufactured by ASELSAN which is armed with one 25mm automatic cannon and a coaxial 7.62mm machine gun. The turret has a traverse of 360° and elevation from -10° to +60°. The NEFER turret has an advanced fire control capability with the help of its onboard computerized fire control and its two-axis stabilized independent sight system. Standard equipment of the turret also includes a day and night imaging system, laser range finder, automatic target tracking, and automatic ballistic calculation systems. The turret provides ballistic protection Level 2 STANAG 4569. According to the contract, deliveries will be made between 2021-2023.
