Altay MBT Development
In order to improve the current technical capabilities of the Turkish defense industries and increase the amount of domestic contribution towards national defense, the Undersecreteriat for Defense Industries decided that a "National Tank" will serve as an excellent catalyst for uniting certain Turkish defense companies around a common goal and for providing the Turkish military with extra firepower in the form of a modern tank.
Three local sub-contractors have already been selected. The military electronics company Aselsan will manufacture and integrate state-of-the-art Volkan-III modular fire control system, command, control and information systems while state-owned MKEK (Mechanical and Chemical Industries Corporation) agreed for the production and integration of the Rheinmetall 120 mm gun. Another state company Roketsan will design an indigenous armor.
Once the prototypes are produced and tested, the Undersecreteriat for Defense Industries of the Republic of Turkey will prepare and execute a separate order for the first lot of 250 tanks. A total of 1000 MBTs are planned to be produced in four separate lots of 250 units. Every delivered lot is expected to have additional upgrades.
Altay MBT Design
The tank is projected to have a 120 mm smoothbore gun and will be protected against chemical, biological and radioactive attacks. The planned maximum speed is set at 70 kilometers per hour, thanks to a 1,800 hp (1,300 kW) engine (the first two batches will have 1,500 hp engines), and the MBTs will be able to function under 4.1 meters of water.
The tank will benefit both from indigenously developed systems and from the armor technology of the South Korean K2 Black Panther, thanks to the agreement signed with South Korea. The candidates for the engine are German MTU Friedrichshafen and the new South Korean engine which is currently under development. The first two batches will be powered by the 1,500 hp (1,100 kW) MTU engines whereas the last two batches will be powered by an indigenous 1,800 hp engine. On 16 June 2008, SSM and industry members discussed a possible participation for the development of 1,800 hp (1,300 kW) indigenous power pack for use in the armoured personnel carriers and main battle tanks produced in Turkey.
First 3D picture of Turkey’s new main battle tank, Altay, was released to public on April 7, 2010 during a press release by SSM.
Altay appears to share strong chasis characteristics with its technological base, the South Korean K2 Black Panther, with a re-designed Turkish turret and Aselsan’s state-of-the-art Volkan-III modular fire control system. The number of wheels have been increased to seven, which translates to a longer hull, heavier armor and increased survivability.
According to reports, a military envoy from Colombia was also present at the press meeting to obtain more information about the tank.
| Altay MBT | |
|---|---|
| Type | Main battle tank |
| Place of origin |  Turkey |
| Service history | |
| In service | 2015 (exp.) |
| Production history | |
| Designer | Otokar Rotem Aselsan Roketsan |
| Designed | 2008–2012 |
| Manufacturer | 1st Army Maintenance Center Command |
| Unit cost | $5.5 million (est.) |
| Specifications | |
| Weight | 60 tonnes (66 short tons; 59 long tons) (est.) |
| Crew | 4 (commander, gunner, loader, driver) |
| | |
| Armor | Under development |
| Main armament | MKEK 120 mm 55 caliber smoothbore gun |
| Secondary armament | 1 x Aselsan STAMP/II stabilized remote controlled turret 1 x 12.7 mm heavy machine gun |
| Engine | Multi-fuel 1500+ hp 1st and 2nd batches (MTU) 1800+ hp 3rd and 4th batches (indigenous) |
| Suspension | Torsion bar |
| Speed | 70 km/h (43 mph) max. |
First prototype
On 29 April 2009, the head of the Turkish Undersecretariat for Defense Industries, Murad Bayar has confirmed at the 9th IDEX International, Defense Industry Fair in Abu Dhabi, that the Turkish tank will be manufactured using only Turkish resources. He added that the research started last week and that he expected to create an authentic tank model specially designed for the needs of the Turkish Armed Forces within 3 years.
As of September, 2010, with approval of the tank subsystems and software by Undersecretariat for Defense Industries, Conceptual Design Phase of the Altay project has been completed. Thus, the project advanced to Detailed Design Phase scheduled to last 30,5 months. The scope of the Detailed Design Phase is to design and integrate interfaces for the selected tank subsystems.
On 15 October 2010, Otokar signed contract with MTU and Renk for the supply of power pack.
On 15 December 2010, Defence Industry Executive Committee decided to start the development of national power pack.
On 11 May 2011, the mock-up of Altay tank was publicized in IDEF 2011.
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