BMC's VURAN 4×4 has become one of the most widely distributed armored vehicles in Turkish service, and it carries a milestone few Western counterparts can claim: it was the first armored vehicle delivered to Türkiye's forces with a domestically designed and built engine, BMC Power's 400 hp TUNA.
| At a glance | |
|---|---|
| Builder | BMC; TUNA engine by BMC Power |
| Turkish users | Land Forces, Gendarmerie, National Police, Navy, Coast Guard (per SSB) |
| Status | In SSB's security vehicles portfolio; in series production |
| Deliveries | First batch to the Army in July 2019; 90 fitted with the TUNA engine |
| Exports | Georgia (46), Kosovo, El Salvador; Tunisia evaluation buy |
What is the VURAN?
VURAN sits below BMC's heavier KİRPİ in size, offering MRAP-class protection in a more agile package for patrol, convoy escort, border security and troop transport. Its value lies in the range of weapons it can carry: beyond the baseline armored personnel carrier with an ASELSAN SARP remote weapon station, there are versions with the 120 mm ALKAR mortar, a 107 mm rocket launcher and the SUNGUR air defense system.
The presence of the Navy and Coast Guard among its users points to base and coastal security roles alongside the frontline missions of the Army and the Gendarmerie.
Key features
The vehicle has a monocoque cabin with a V-shaped floor, carrying nine personnel by the manufacturer's figure and up to 13 in total. The BMC Power TUNA is an 8.4-liter four-cylinder diesel of 400 hp. With a 310-liter tank, the range is about 1,000 km at 60 km/h, and ground clearance is about 400 mm.
Protection covers mine, ballistic and IED threats and is reported as STANAG 4569 Level 3. Central tire inflation, automatic fire suppression and shock-absorbing seats reflect lessons from Türkiye's long counter-IED campaign. Figures come from BMC and open sources and vary by configuration.
Program, service and exports
The first batch went to the Army in July 2019. Of the first 97 TUNA engines produced, 50 went into Army VURANs, 40 into Gendarmerie vehicles and seven were held as spares. SSB has not disclosed total VURAN deliveries, and open-source compilations of Army and Gendarmerie orders are not officially confirmed.
Georgia is the flagship export customer: under a 2022 agreement signed with ASFAT, the Georgian Defence Forces received 46 VURANs, the first entering service in February 2024 and the last delivered on 12 June 2024. Kosovo signed for the type in 2021 and took delivery of two 120 mm mortar carriers in late 2022. El Salvador is also listed as a user.
Comparable vehicles include the Oshkosh M-ATV, the Arquus Bastion and the RG-32 family. VURAN's differentiator is a sovereign powerpack: where many Western designs rely on imported engines, BMC can offer customers a supply chain that is built on a domestic engine.
Source: Envanter Medya