Turkey delivered a batch of Armored Personnel Carriers (APCs) to the Hungarian military on Sunday in a first delivery following the opening of a Turkish production plant in the country, the Daily Sabah reported. 

The vehicles, known as the Gidran, are armored 4×4 Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) and, according to the manufacturer, Nurol Makina, will be produced under licenses issued to Hungary.

Hungarian Deputy Defence Minister, Gaspar Maroth, said yesterday Sunday that 40 Gidran units were manufactured in Turkey and will be gradually delivered to the Hungarian Armed Forces. Another 100 units will be produced in Hungary, he added.

Hungary signed the agreement for the acquisition of these armored vehicles in 2018 with the first ten vehicles arriving in Hungary last month.

Supplying the Gidran to meet the operational needs of the Hungarian Army and opening a production line for the vehicle in question, Hungary has become the first EU country to welcome a Turkish defence firm’s operations on its territory and is also the second NATO country after Poland to acquire Turkish armaments.

As part of NATO, Poland became the second user of the Turkish unmanned aerial combat vehicle (UCAV) TB2 Bayraktar after Turkey itself last summer. Latvia and Kazakhstan, meanwhile, have expressed interest in these UCAVs, while Ukraine, Qatar, Libya, Turkmenistan, and Azerbaijan are currently using the system.

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