Otokar Otomotiv ve Savunma Sanayi

Otokar runs two businesses out of one industrial complex at Arifiye in Sakarya province. One builds buses. The other builds armour. The company started in 1963 as Turkey's first intercity bus manufacturer under Koc Holding, and its commercial vehicles arm still turns out the Kent low floor city bus, the Territo intercity coach, the Navigo midibus, the Centro minibus and Atlas light trucks in the 9 to 15 tonne class, with battery electric versions of Kent and Territo now in the range. That side of the house funds a defence industry arm which has grown into the most experienced land systems house in the country, with more than 30,000 military vehicles delivered into service across five continents. Otokar products are in use in around 60 countries, supported through subsidiaries in France, Romania, Kazakhstan and the United Arab Emirates and a service network of some 300 points.

Wheeled armoured vehicles are the volume product. Cobra and Cobra II 4x4s are in service in roughly 30 countries, and the Arma family covers 6x6 and 8x8 hulls with the Arma II 8x8 introduced as the next step in that line. Ural is the modular armoured personnel carrier, Kaya II covers the mine resistant troop carrier role on a torsionally flexible chassis, and Akrep II is a reconnaissance and surveillance platform offered with an electric drive variant. Tracked armoured vehicles are represented by Tulpar, an infantry fighting vehicle heavy enough to work alongside main battle tanks and displayed with both a 35mm Korhan turret and a 105mm Cockerill gun. Otokar designed and built the first Altay main battle tank prototypes under the national tank programme, although serial production of that vehicle later went to another manufacturer. Combat weights across the armoured range run from about 4 tonnes to 60.

Turret systems are a business in their own right rather than an accessory to the vehicles. Mizrak-30 and Mizrak-S 30 are unmanned turrets with a 30mm dual feed cannon, stabilised commander and gunner sights, cooled thermal imaging and digital fire control, while Ucok and Bozok cover the lighter bracket from 7.62mm machine guns up to 40mm grenade launchers. Robotic and unmanned ground vehicles entered the catalogue in 2023 with Alpar, a tracked armed platform of about 15 tonnes designed to work alongside crewed vehicles. Beyond hardware, Otokar sells vehicle design and development work, mission specific integration and integrated logistic support, and it holds NATO and United Nations supplier registration. Design, prototyping, qualification testing and production all happen on the same site, which is why a customer can specify a protection level and a weapon fit and get a hull built to it rather than a catalogue variant with a different turret bolted on. The company employs around 3,600 people, is listed on Borsa Istanbul under the OTKAR ticker and reported revenue near one billion dollars in 2024.