Prontaron Arms, an emerging Turkish brand in the firearms and weapon systems industry, is showcasing its portfolio of infantry firearms and hunting shotguns at the Bamako International Defence and Security Exhibition (BAMEX 2026), which runs from 9 to 13 November at the Bamako Exhibitions Park (FEBAK) in Mali. The stand puts a newcomer among the more than 20 Turkish companies at the show in front of military and security buyers from across the Sahel.
Under its “Above the Standard” slogan, Prontaron Arms is presenting its weapons on precision, durability, reliability and engineering, aimed at defence, security and civilian customers. The company sees the exhibition as a platform to strengthen its international presence, meet military and security professionals and explore new business across Africa and beyond.
Carbines and 12-gauge shotguns
The centrepiece of the stand is a compact AR-pattern carbine in a bronze finish, with a short handguard, an adjustable stock, a top rail carrying a red-dot sight and a translucent magazine. Its short barrel and compact layout suit close-quarter work by police, special units and vehicle crews, where a full-length rifle is unwieldy.
Alongside it, Prontaron’s brochures show an AR-style rifle and its family of 12-gauge shotguns. According to the company’s website, the PTR12 range includes the PTR12-MF, a gas-operated semi-automatic shotgun with a detachable magazine in an AR-15 layout; the PTR12-SG, a gas-operated semi-automatic with a tube magazine in an M4-style configuration; the PTR12-TM semi-automatic with a tube magazine; the PTR12-PA pump-action; and the PTR12-BL, a magazine-fed semi-automatic bullpup. Shotguns of this kind are used by police and gendarmerie units for checkpoint work, riot control with less-lethal rounds and breaching, as well as by civilian hunters, which gives the range a market on both sides of the security and sporting divide.
The firearms are made by Prontaron Silah Sanayi in Beyşehir, in Türkiye’s Konya province, where the company says it carries out design, precision parts manufacturing, assembly, testing and quality control under one roof in a 2,500-square-metre facility equipped with computer numerical control (CNC) machining. Beyşehir and the wider Konya region are part of Türkiye’s established shotgun manufacturing belt, which exports sporting and law-enforcement shotguns worldwide.
Organiser and exhibitor
Prontaron has two roles in Bamako. Prontaron Savunma Sanayi, trading as The Peak Defense, is the main organiser of BAMEX 2026, in coordination with Mali’s Ministry of Defence and Veterans Affairs, and is also an official exhibitor through its Prontaron Arms brand. The show’s three exhibition days run from 9 to 11 November, followed by live demonstration days on 12 and 13 November.
According to the company’s website, Prontaron Defense Industry Organization and Foreign Trade Ltd. Co. was established in Istanbul in 2020 and provides trade fair organisation, international trade and business development services for the defence sector. Its main registered activity is military defence services (administrative services related to the armed forces and defence), under NACE code 842205. As The Peak Defense, the company says it designs, integrates and delivers technologies and solutions across land, air and naval platforms.
“Our expertise goes far beyond cutting edge product supply. We provide end to end project management, live demonstration programs, and technology transfer initiatives that turn capability goals into tangible results,” the company said. “By combining innovation with precision and an uncompromising commitment to excellence, we help our partners strengthen national defense capacity and maintain readiness against today’s most complex security challenges.” It added: “With a strong presence across the world, our mission is to deliver results that strengthen defense capabilities, protect national interests, and enable long term partnerships built on trust and excellence.”
BAMEX chairman Harun Saraç, chief executive of The Peak Defense, told Military Africa in September that the show would be judged by what follows it. “For us, the real success of BAMEX is what happens after the exhibition,” he said, pointing to procurement decisions, local partnerships, training and maintenance agreements.
Turkish industry in the Sahel
Prontaron’s stand sits within a large Turkish presence at BAMEX. Baykar is showing its KIZILELMA unmanned combat aircraft in Malian colours, and ASELSAN has brought its KORKUT air defence system alongside counter-drone jammers and radios. The first BAMEX in 2025 functioned largely as a showcase for Turkish industry, and Türkiye has become a leading supplier to Mali and its partners in the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), as Military Africa has examined in its analysis of Turkey’s role as a security partner in Africa.
Small arms are a large part of that demand. Sahelian armies, gendarmeries and national guards are expanding quickly to fight armed groups, and each new unit needs rifles, carbines and shotguns. Established Turkish small arms makers such as MKE, Sarsılmaz and Canik already sell in Africa, and Prontaron, as a newer brand, is competing with them as well as with Chinese and Russian suppliers.
From the FEBAK stand to the demo range
The live demonstration days on 12 and 13 November give Prontaron Arms the chance to fire its carbines and shotguns in front of buyers. For a company that is both the show’s organiser and a first-time exhibitor of its own weapons, the test is whether its stand leads to orders, local partnerships or technology transfer arrangements of the kind its sister firm promotes, rather than visibility alone.
