The Altay tank project, which was founded 15 years ago as the National Tank Production Project (MITUP) to meet Turkey’s tank needs, has turned into a snake story over the years. Of course, there are several reasons and reasons for this situation. But today, with the statement made by BMC officials, the light at the end of the tunnel is now visible. So when is the Altay tank? will go into mass production and enter the TAF inventory?
When will the Altay tank enter the TAF inventory?
The Altay tank is probably the most awaited land vehicle in the history of Turkey, having returned from the brink of mass production several times, even if it is not yet in the inventory and has not been used in active duty, it is the most well-known land vehicle in the public.
The expectations on the main battle tank Altay, which was developed as a 3+ generation, are quite high. Because, as we can see from the videos shared over the years, these vehicles, which bring many new technologies with them, will look like antiques when they are delivered to our army.
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Moreover, in addition to the planned production of 1000 units with T1 and T2 configurations, an unmanned and turreted version called T3 will be developed for the Altay tank. Of course, there is no information about the engine of this unmanned configuration yet.
But precisely for this reason, the TAF has sent new demands over the years, causing the project to be prolonged. For example, although the first prototypes were at the delivery stage in 2013, the vehicle was repeatedly returned to the construction phase as additional capabilities were requested. In fact, as a new power group was required at the last stage, it was redesigned and a second Altay tank emerged.
However, this time, the project bounced once again when its ally with Germany, which established strategic cooperation and partnerships in the field of defense industry, put an engine embargo. However, new power units came from South Korea last March and their tests started immediately.
As a result, everything seems to have gone well until now, good news came from BMC. According to the statement, the Altay tank, which is expected to continue its tests until 2025, will enter the TAF inventory in 2023. But there will only be 2 of them. The rest of the testing process will be completed quickly while in the TAF inventory.
This will speed up the testing process. In addition, according to BMC, as soon as these tests are completed, mass production will be started for the Altay tank and the remaining 98 tanks will be delivered quickly. Thus, the first batch of tanks planned to be produced in total 1000 will be ready for duty.
Altai tank features:
| Barrel Diameter | 120mm (4.7 inches) |
|---|---|
| Crew | 4 (commander, gunner, driver, loader) |
| armor | Roketsan: A new type of boron carbide-based armor. |
| main weapon | MKEK 120 mm L/55 smoothbore gun |
| other weapons | 1 × Aselsan SARP 12.7 mm heavy machine gun / 40 mm grenade launcher |
| Engine | 1) Made in South Korea 2) BMC Batu V12 turbo diesel engine, 27,300 cc, 1,500 PS (1,100 kW) 3) Tumosan |
| suspension hardware | hydropneumatic suspension |
| Curb weight | T1 61,700 kg (136,000 lb) 61.7 tons T2 65,000 kg (143,000 lb) 65 tons (It will vary according to the configurations.) |
| range of action | 450 km (280 mi) |
| Max speed | 65 km/h (40 mph) (asphalt), 45 km/h (28 mph) (terrain) |
What do you think about the Altay tank? Don’t forget to share your views with us in the comments!