Established around 30 years ago to supply vehicle-mounted equipment, Katmerciler is taking incremental steps to occupy a larger area in the sector. The company participated in IDEF’17 with many new products following extensive preparation for this special occasion. These included; ambulance that operates in mission area, Remote Controlled Weapon Platform (UKAP) and HIZIR Tactical Wheeled Armoured Vehicle, featuring ASELSAN assistance in hybrid engine. We discussed with Furkan Katmerci, Executive Vice President of the company, many subjects from saving human lives to investing in humans, from investing in future to unmanned vehicles. 

C4Defence: At IDEF’17, we are witnessing Katmerciler’s most extensive participation ever. With your permission, let us begin our talk with your products. What is the distinguishing feature of your ambulance? 
Executive Vice President of Katmerciler, Furkan Katmerci: We are displaying various features. Speaking of costs, the ambulance’s initial procurement and life cycle costs are very modest. The ambulance was designed with regard to the mission area and the requirements of persons in the mission. Accordingly, we sought guidance from retired medical colonels. We designed the product in collaboration with persons with combat experience. We took into consideration the feedback coming from the field. For instance, is the ceiling is low, then doctors find it hard to conduct operations inside the vehicle. On the other hand, since it is possible to stand in this vehicle, the doctor can deal with the patient comfortably. In addition, four more persons can be carried in other stretchers. This means sending less ambulances to this turbulent mission zone. As compared to former practices, the person extracted from such operation areas can be too heavy to be carried to the ambulance, plus, the ground is not generally smooth to allow for quick movement. However, in our system, it is extremely easy to transport patients thanks to automatic load-unload system.