Otokar Cobra
Encyclopedia
The Cobra is a wheeled armoured vehicle developed by Turkish firm Otokar
Otokar
Otokar, a sub-division of Koç Holding, is a Turkish manufacturer of buses and military vehicles headquartered in Sakarya, Turkey.-History:Otokar began business in 1963 as Turkey's first intercity bus manufacturing company under the license of Magirus Deutz of Istanbul. Otokar was noted for...

, using some components from the American HMMWV. It was first delivered to the Turkish Army
Turkish Army
The Turkish Army or Turkish Land Forces is the main branch of the Turkish Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. The modern history of the army began with its formation after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire...

 in 1997 and most recently, won a contract from a buyer for APV and 4X4 unarmored tactical vehicles.

Survivability

The monocoque
Monocoque
Monocoque is a construction technique that supports structural load by using an object's external skin, as opposed to using an internal frame or truss that is then covered with a non-load-bearing skin or coachwork...

 steel v-hull
V-hull
The V-hull is a type of vehicle armor design used on wheeled armored personnel carriers , infantry mobility vehicles and infantry fighting vehicles...

 provides protection against small arms fire, artillery
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...

 shell shrapnel, anti-personnel/tank mines
Land mine
A land mine is usually a weight-triggered explosive device which is intended to damage a target—either human or inanimate—by means of a blast and/or fragment impact....

 and IED
Improvised explosive device
An improvised explosive device , also known as a roadside bomb, is a homemade bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional military action...

s. Front wheel arches are designed to be blown away to free blast pockets.

Variants

The Cobra vehicle forms a common platform which can be adapted for various roles and mission requirements including: Armoured Personnel Carrier, Anti-Tank Vehicle, Reconnaissance
Reconnaissance
Reconnaissance is the military term for exploring beyond the area occupied by friendly forces to gain information about enemy forces or features of the environment....

 Vehicle, Ground Surveillance Radar Vehicle, Forward Observation Vehicle, Armoured Ambulance, Armoured Command Post, turreted vehicle for 12.7mm machine gun, 20mm cannon, anti-tank missiles such as the TOW missile/Spike missile
Spike (missile)
Spike is a fourth generation man-portable fire-and-forget anti-tank guided missile with tandem-charged HEAT warhead, developed and designed by the Israeli company Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and in service with a number of nations....

 or surface-to-air missiles.

Cobra can be used as an amphibious vehicle in combat. Turkish Naval Forces is now looking for a new amphibious vehicle and Otokar Cobra is listed amongst the candidates for acquisitions.

Combat history

During the Battle of Tskhinvali
Battle of Tskhinvali
The Battle of Tskhinvali was a fight for the city of Tskhinvali, capital of South Ossetia. It was the only major battle in the 2008 South Ossetia War. Georgian ground troops entered the city on early 8 August 2008, after an extensive artillery barrage. Their advance was stopped by South Ossetian...

 of the 2008 South Ossetia war
2008 South Ossetia war
The 2008 South Ossetia War or Russo-Georgian War was an armed conflict in August 2008 between Georgia on one side, and Russia and separatist governments of South Ossetia and Abkhazia on the other....

, Cobra vehicles were used by special forces of Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs during their assault on the city. Some of the vehicles were equipped with 12.7 mm heavy machine guns ("Utyos") and some with 40 mm automatic grenade launchers (AGL).

Otokar Cobra is also used by the Turkish Army in Afghanistan and in Anti-Terrorist operations in northern Iraq

Operators

- 600 - - 24 Cobras have been procured to test in Bangladeshi condition. There is a future plan to procure more. In 2010 Bangladesh Police purchased 7 Cobra APC's. - N/A - 300 + in service of Georgian police and military forces - 5 Cobras - 193 Cobras - 10 Cobras; NBC recon variant, possible future sale of more units - 789 Cobras - N/A - N/A - N/A Captured in Georgia from 2008 war.

External links




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