The Altay tank project, the foundations of which were laid as the National Tank Production Project (MITUP) to meet Turkey’s tank needs, was given to Otokar by the Presidency of Defense Industries in 2007. Although its construction was delayed for a long time, South Korea delivered the engines to be used in test vehicles last March. Now, the production date of the Altay tank has been determined.
USA is developing Bayraktar TB3 competitor SİHA!
General Atomics, which developed the famous MQ-9 Reaper SİHA of the USA, announced the Bayraktar TB3 type folding wing variant.
The production date of the Altay tank has been announced: it will start in 2 years!
Different serial production dates have been shared in the past 10 years for the Altay tank, which is currently estimated to have 5 to 10 prototypes. However, the project could not proceed to the next step because the engine with the desired specifications could not be supplied. Until South Korea delivered the engines and power units last March.
Now, it is said that the engine and power units brought from South Korea for Altay have been integrated and the testing process has begun. In addition, it is stated that the 1500 horsepower engine, which was developed with domestic facilities after the mass production line, will also be used. In addition, the domestic tower system is also planned to be used in this vehicle.
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, when these vehicles, which bring many new technologies with them, are delivered to our army, they will look like antiques next to the other tanks in the inventory (the ones that have not gone through the modernization process).
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.
Making a statement on the subject, Defense Industry President İsmail Demir said:
We integrated the power pack from Korea into the prototype of our ALTAY Tank. Tests on the prototype are currently ongoing. Very good results were obtained. We have also reached a point in terms of mass production with Korea. This is the first time this power system has been integrated into a tank.
The power pack of the tank used in Korea, not this one. They still use the German transmission(s). Within 2 years, ALTAY can start mass production with this power group. Using the transmission for the first time may prolong the tests a bit.
Altai tank features
| Barrel Diameter | 120mm (4.7in) |
|---|---|
| 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 (1,670 cu in), 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 this subject? Don’t forget to share your feedback with us on the SDN Forum or in the comments!