Nurol Makina, a Turkish defence industry company that produces armoured land vehicles, has signed a contract with Asisguard, a Turkish company that provides electro-optical and border security systems, to export 13 YÖRÜK 4X4 Light Tactical Armoured Vehicles to Nigeria as part of a larger border security project.
The contract was signed at Nurol Makina facilities by Asisguard General Manager Barış Düzgün and Nurol Makina General Manager Engin Aykol. Düzgün said that the contract was the result of 2.5 years of ongoing work in Nigeria, where they have been awarded a $36.5 million project to provide an integrated border security solution for the country.
The project, which involves the overseas sales of products from HAVELSAN, STM, and approximately 10 Turkish companies, including Gürbağ Savunma and MILMAST, aims to secure a highway with security issues between Abuja and Kaduna, the capital of Nigeria, using locally and nationally produced state-of-the-art technology systems and products.
Düzgün said that within the project’s scope, they will provide reconnaissance and surveillance systems, rapid response and neutralization systems, command and control systems, as well as communication and energy infrastructure systems. He added that they decided to collaborate with Nurol Makina, the armoured vehicle manufacturer that has proven itself in Turkey and globally under the most challenging combat conditions.
STM, a Turkish defence company, has recently exported its TOGAN unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to Nigeria. The TOGAN is a small, rotary-wing UAV that is designed for tactical-level reconnaissance, surveillance, and intelligence missions. It is equipped with a variety of sensors, including a camera and a thermal imager, and it can be used to gather information about the surrounding area.
Also, Havelsan, a Turkish defence and informatics company, announced that it has exported its Sub-Cloud Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) BAHA to an undisclosed African country. BAHA is a small, fixed-wing UAV that is designed for tactical-level reconnaissance, surveillance, and intelligence missions. It is equipped with a variety of sensors, including a camera and a thermal imager, and it can be used to gather information about the surrounding area.
According to the contract, 13 YÖRÜK 4X4 vehicles will be exported as part of the Nigerian Road Safety Project. This will increase the number of countries where YÖRÜK 4X4 is used to 5. Aykol expressed their goal to complete the vehicle deliveries during the year. Chad recently acquired the type.
The project will also include 4×4 tactical wheeled armoured vehicles manufactured by Nurol Makina and unmanned reconnaissance and surveillance air combat vehicles developed by STM. Moreover, the project will feature ASISGUARD’s highly advanced Songar drones, which are equipped with advanced artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities and can be integrated with automatic machine guns and grenade launchers. Some Songar drones are already being used by the Nigerian Police and Army. In October 2022, the Turkish company supplied at least 10 Songar armed drones to Nigerian counter-terror forces.
The contract between Nurol Makina and Asisguard is a sign of the growing defence collaboration between Turkey and Nigeria, which started in January 2022 with talks on counter-terrorism support and the acquisition of various military hardware.
At the meeting, leading Turkish defence companies pitched their hardware to the Nigerian military leadership in a bid to make some sales including TUSAŞ, OTOKAR, Roketsan, BMC, Tais Shipyard, Katmerciler, ASELSAN, TAI and 10 others.