Defense Industry (1) - An Asymmetric Armoured Concept of Operations from Europe to America

This article was written as Defence Industry Fictions / If I Were Me Series - Part 1.

New Generation Armoured Initiative with Finland and Mexico

Finland, a fledgling member of NATO, has very wide land borders with Russia. Its population is small, its territory is vast and generally flat. For this reason, it seems inevitable that it will adopt an asymmetric combat style in a land war. It can be predicted that heavy and cumbersome platforms such as Main Battle Tanks will cause problems in this struggle.

When we look at the armoured operation concept of many countries, we generally see two types of vehicles. The first of these is platforms such as heavy AMTs and IFVs that will directly confront the enemy on the front line. The second is platforms that are focused on behind the frontline operations and are assumed to stay away from direct enemy fire. MRAPs, various types of wheeled and tracked APCs can be given as examples.

When we analyse Finland's needs, we see that it will need a new concept that combines both types of vehicles, without heavy vehicles. This is a robust and logical concept that can provide both firepower and armour protection in an asymmetric warfare. Fast, agile and scalable in terms of economics and manpower, platforms that are capable of achieving front-line deployment, combat and retreat together are required.

Nurol Makine NMS (Yörük)

When we look at the domestic and national systems that can meet this need, the first thing that catches our eye is the Nurol Makine NMS, also known as the Yörük platform. The vehicle has a much lower profile compared to the MRAP class and accommodates fewer but sufficient number of personnel. It is a much more stable platform than its competitors in the firing of many weapon systems, including large calibre. With its NGVA infrastructure, it is open to the integration of all NATO standard subsystems.

Which weapons can provide the necessary firepower to these vehicles?

• A NATO-standard wedge mortar system with a diameter of 81 mm, positioned in the turret / turret, which will provide both horizontal and vertical firing. With this system, most heavy fire support needs on the battle line can be solved.
• A completely unmanned turret system using a 30 mm Venom LR cannon. With this system, which can use multiple types of ammunition, both enemy drones and UCAVs as well as ground elements can be affected.
• With vehicles containing ATGM launchers, enemy tanks and protected positions can be taken into effect. In addition to ATGM missiles such as OMTAS and UMTAS, light guided rockets such as Javelin can also be added, and thus, targets with lower armour protection can also be taken into account.
• Based on the kamikaze UAVs of STM or another company, loitering ammunition / swarm drone delivery vehicles with multiple launchers can be designed. In fact, the capacity of the NMS is suitable enough to accommodate two or more FPV / Drone operators.
• With unmanned vehicles carrying 40 mm grenade launchers and 12.7 mm heavy machine guns in unmanned and new generation turrets, the firing effect against soft targets on the front line can be greatly increased.
• Air defence vehicles with both barrelled and MANPADS missiles could be added.
• Many support vehicle classes such as artillery locator radar, mast-mounted land radar, electronic warfare and electronic support vehicles, command and control vehicles, etc. can also be built on the same platform.

It is possible to enrich this list with the addition of many different configurations. However, our goal is water: To develop a lightweight but fast and effective asymmetric armoured concept that can reach a point quickly with armour protection, hold the front for a while with both the weapon load and the infantry it carries, and leave the front quickly after engaging the enemy under armour protection, while maintaining its fire capability.

Ideal Finnish Partner: Patria

Patria, which has a wide range of design and production capabilities, including heavy artillery weapons, and can produce armoured vehicles, stands out as an ideal partner for Nurol Makine. This could pave the way for the production of many heavy weapons and advanced ammunition that Turkey will also need and that MKE will have difficulty in keeping up with.

The key to this cooperation is to accurately reflect the targeted armoured operation concept to the other side and to maximise the opportunities with full cooperation and a mutually beneficial formula.

We had the opportunity to observe a large number of advanced western AMT models that were lost in the Ukraine war. However, the number of Leopard-1s lost is much smaller than other advanced AMTs. This is because the crew of this relatively light tank, knowing that being hit means death, carefully uses the platform as a means of fire support and avoids enemy fire. In other words, the new asymmetric armoured concept makes more sense with a trained and conscious user. This is an advantage for Finland, which is famous for its education system and the quality of its people.

It is unpredictable when the current tension will turn into a war. The NMS is a very modern and new vehicle with an open production line in Turkey. In other words, while the project continues to progress in line with a certain plan, in case of a development that would disrupt the plan, the vehicles can be procured directly from Turkey as an "early entry".

A Project Approach that Accepts Potential Partners as Observers at the Beginning

One of the most serious areas affected by the Russian-Ukrainian war, which is being followed carefully by the whole world, is the understanding of armoured operations. This pool of experience, which covers all sizes and types of armoured vehicles, has started to awaken even countries that previously had limited interest in these areas. In this context, we can also mention Mexico, which, due to its long land and sea borders with a superpower like the USA, has kept its costs in the field of armoured operations at a very modest level. It is also worth mentioning the benefits of this new concept in the field of cartel and asymmetric struggle, rather than the possibility of a conflict with the United States.

If the right narrative language is adopted regarding this concept and the modern force multipliers it brings, Mexico, one of the production bases of the future, can be expected to join the project. This will open the door to a wide market, including South America. It would be beneficial to keep Mexico, which also has very old armoured vehicles, in one corner of the project as an observer country from the beginning.

In addition to drones and loitering ammunition, if a much more comprehensive Unmanned Ground Vehicle integration is included, the concept is a candidate to attract the interest of Arab countries. Of course, customisations for desert conditions and the addition of electronic warfare systems to blunt enemy drones are essential. Thus, the project can become the "New Generation Desert Armoured Cavalry", the leading and primary force in land operations.

Selling a Vision is Much More Profitable than Selling a Product

We have a developing defence and aerospace industry. In this context, we have done the right thing and started to establish a defence ecosystem by giving importance to subsystem production. Today, we observe that most of the companies within this ecosystem are trying to transform their capabilities into products and open them to the global market. In this context, we observe that the share of subcontractors in the ecosystem is increasing in our increasing exports, even if their share is low. Even if these manufacturers have a share in the exports of the main system integrators, we can see that they do not have an impact.

In these circumstances, the best approach is to focus on selling a vision rather than a product. This is because a vision will not only include many products from the main system integrators, but will also allow small companies in the sub-ecosystem to develop. For example, while a customer may want to use a cannon system produced by itself, it may want to procure it from a Turkish-made tower manufacturer. In this way, it can gain many advantages, especially in logistics.