Interview With Cem Altinisik, FNSS Corporate Communication Manager

Yulian Ardiansyah - : May 8, 2024 - : 2:14 pm

“We will continue to provide tailored solutions to our customers,” said Cem Altinisik, FNSS Corporate Communication Manager in an interview with Yulian Ardiansyah from Global Business Press’ Daily News during DSA 2024 in Malaysia. What are the products that FNSS...

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“We will continue to provide tailored solutions to our customers,” said Cem Altinisik, FNSS Corporate Communication Manager in an interview with Yulian Ardiansyah from Global Business Press’ Daily News during DSA 2024 in Malaysia.

What are the products that FNSS is bringing to DSA 2024 for the Malaysian Armed Forces?

We’re happy to be here to showcase all our products to the Malaysian Armed Forces, but we consider exhibitions like DSA as regional shows. So, we’re here not only for the Malaysian Armed Forces but also to be able to meet other Armed Forces in Southeast Asia where we are delivering our products and services to, such as Indonesia, and the Philippines.

So thereby, most of our products that we’re showcasing now in this exhibition are addressing these countries’ requirements for today and for the future. You may see here that we have the Harimau medium tank which is already in service with the Indonesian Armed Forces. There are also intentions from several countries for the Marine Assault Vehicle which is also being showcased here.

We’re also showcasing our PARS 6x6 armoured fire support vehicle which is armed with a 30 mm automatic cannon, a coaxial 7,62 mm machine gun, and it also has two fire-and-forget Anti-Tank Guided Missiles (ATGMs). The missiles have an effective range of four kilometers so it does not allow hostile Main Battle Tanks (MBTs) to get close to the vehicle. Furthermore the missiles can also be fired without being seen by the enemy or without line-of-sight by using targeting data from friendly infantry forces, or UGVs.

This 6x6 armoured fire support vehicle is also armed with a remote-controlled weapon station (RCWS) operated by the commander coupled with the Hunter-Killer capability. Another unique aspect is that the guns on this vehicle also have very high elevation to give more flexibility in the battlefield.

We have closely examined through all the conflicts around the world to come up with this solution. Number of spare ATGMs carried inside the vehicle. For the main gun, we’re also equipping it with 30mm firing both armour-piercing and high-explosive rounds. For all of these, you will need more space. Therefore, for a system like this, a 6x6 vehicle configuration is very suitable for any army.

How many types of FNSS products are now operational with the Turkish Army? Also, can you tell me how FNSS addresses different requirements from other countries?

Basically, every single frontline battle vehicle type except MBT for the Turkish Army are designed and manufactured by FNSS. I’m not talking about battle support vehicles like trucks, MRAPs or tactical vehicles, these are front line armoured fighting vehicles.

Our products can be found operating side-by-side with Turkish Army’s MBTs and do the fighting together.

PARS 6x6 and PARS 4x4 amphibious armoured weapon carrier great samples in that sense. Especially speaking about these vehicles, aside from the 30mm fire support capabilities, it can also be configured with different types of ATGMs

So we are very much customer-oriented, and we do not only seek for exporting systems but we’re mostly targeting added values. This is very important for us because it brings us closer for long-term reliable partnerships with technology transfers, co-developments, and co-productions.

Please tell me more about these three points you just mentioned.

What we’re doing is that we do the technology transfer, we work together with the engineers of our local business partners like we did with the Harimau medium tank, for example. We worked very closely with PT PINDAD’s engineers to design and develop the tank from scratch including production, until delivery, and we’ve also transferred manufacturing technologies together with design technologies. Then, we start manufacturing the platforms in PT PINDAD’s facilities been able to supply (the Harimau tank) an indigenous product for Indonesia.

With all of these, we were able to keep our promises to our customers and partners which is very important for us.

Malaysia is also a very good example of adding value to our stakeholders. Even before the Harimau tank program with Indonesia, we have manufactured some number of ADNAN ACV-15s in Malaysia and jontly designed and manufactured AV-8 8x8 WAVs together with our local business partner.

Beside Malaysia and Indonesia, FNSS had been running a military production facility in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for many years where we have successfully upgraded over 1000 armoured vehicles in this country.

Especially about AV-8 and Harimau medium tank projects, these aren’t being used by the Turkish military. How do you see this?

The AV-8 was especially designed to meet the Malaysian Army’s requirements. It was mainly due to differences in the operational requirements of Turkish and Malaysian armies arising from different threats, different situations, different terrains, different climates between Turkiye and Malaysia. The Turkish military has its own requirements which do not necessarily always fit with other armed forces.

For example, we designed the AV-8 to have amphibious capability, while none of the PARS 6x6s and 8x8s in the Turkish military have that capability. Instead, the Turkish configurations need higher ballistic protection, better mine and Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) protection. All these come with trade-offs, because more protection also mean added weight which has impact on amphibious operations.

Therefore, this is also another good example that we’re addressing specific requirements as well as adding values for the customers.

In essence, we listen to our customers, we get their requirements, we do our homework and we come up with solutions with the best suitable package possible and if we’re able to get through, then we deliver the system with those specific requirements just as we promised.

We did all this with the Harimau medium tank. With the Harimau program, the Indonesian Army was able to become one of the first armies in the world with medium tank capability. Now there are many other similar programs being started in many other countries.

This is also very important, to receive that kind of capability in a reasonably short amount of time which is also promised from both FNSS and PT PINDAD to Indonesian Army.

In the future, we will be looking forward to addressing requirements of the customers around the world, especially in this region and continue providing customized solutions.