April 11, 2013: Four years ago the Turkish Army ordered 468 locally designed and manufactured Kirpis MRAP (Mine Resistant Ambush Protected) armored vehicles. All these vehicles were supposed to have been delivered last year, but 175 have not yet arrived. The Turkish national police are also waiting on delivery on Kipris. The manufacturer, BMC, is having financial and management problems and the government has told BMC that if deliveries are not completed soon, the undelivered vehicles would be cancelled and another Turkish firm (like Otokar) or even a foreign source (like very cheap used American MRAPs) would be used instead.

The Kirpis is a 4x4 16 ton armored truck that is similar to those made in several other Western countries. Kirpis has a turret, a crew of three, and can carry ten troops or a ton of cargo. Turkey has been stressing buying more and more locally made military equipment. The Kirpis passed all its tests and the army thought it had a great deal here. Despite the embarrassment of cancelling an MRAP order from a Turkish firm, the army wants these MRAPs just in case the current peace talks with Kurdish rebels do not work out.