Turkey’s first local tractor manufacturing company TÜMOSAN Engine and Tractor Industry Inc. is accelerating its projects in the defense sector by joining onto a project to develop an engine project for the country’s main battle tank, the Altay. The company chairman has said that TÜMOSAN has been actively working and passing on its know-how on defense industry projects.

"The company continues to take an active role in domestic tactical wheeled vehicle concept design studies, especially by producing armored vehicles, engines and transmission organs of armored vehicles," TÜMOSAN General Manager Halim Tosun said Saturday.

Tosun underlined that they had introduced the industrial prototype of the 8+1 synchromesh automatic transmission, which entered its test phase by the end of 2018, while research and development (R&D) work was launched to come up with a fully automatic transmission with a torque converter on March 1, 2017.

"There has been a great amount of progress in the domestication of the defense industry," he said, noting that the locality rate of the current armored vehicles came to around 50%-55% while with the production of engine and other power supplies, "we believe that ratio will reach up to 75%."

It has been predicted that the production of such parts within the country, rather than relying on imports, would be set to provide a minimum of 20% cost advantage, he added.

TÜMOSAN has also signed an agreement with Turkey's FNSS Defense Industries Company

in December 2019, under the leadership of the Defense Industries Presidency and the company, within the scope of that agreement, undertook the engine supply of the "Special Purpose Tactical Wheeled Armored Vehicle." Tosun stated that works on the project, which will last about 36 months, is continuing at full speed.

TÜMOSAN was established in 1976 to produce engine and transmission organs and similar equipment. In 1981, it started the first diesel engine production transfer and produced the country’s first tractor in 1984. The company underwent privatization in 2004 and took its place on the capital markets by offering approximately 30% to the public in 2012.

The company expanded its field of activity in 2015 and started work on the production and sales of TÜMOSAN-branded agricultural equipment. It has been continuously expanding its product range since 2016.