BMC is gearing up to start serial production of the new Altai tank for the Turkish Army

Following the phases of Turkey’s local tank development program, the Turkish government recently signed an agreement with BMC to begin mass production of the MBT Altay. The information released by officials of the Turkish Defense Industry Agency (SSB) comes within the framework of efforts to supply the Turkish armed forces with large quantities of equipment and locally produced weapons.

Emerging from collaborations with South Korean companies, the Ulte is a main battle tank (MBT) whose design is based on the K2 Black Panther originally produced by Hyundai Rotem. Among the features announced by the PMC is a 120mm smoothbore main gun, which weighs approximately 65 tonnes. It is expected to include a variety of defenses, including composite armor supplied by ASELSAN and the AKKOR active defense system.

Based on a recent announcement by the head of the Turkish Defense Industry Agency (SSB), Haluk Gorgan, he stated: “We are going into serial production of the Alte tank, there are countries that want to work with us internationally and we are continuing our negotiations with them.“.

For its part, BMC has revealed that the first batch to be delivered to the Turkish Army will consist of 250 units, setting a delivery of 8 tanks per month until the batch is completed. Although no specific dates have been disclosed, the company indicated that the start date of serial production of the tank is set for 2025, with milestones such as the installation of the necessary chain within the framework of the tests that Altay underwent. of local suppliers.

One of these is the engine, as the Altai’s first units were fitted with powerplants and transmissions of South Korean origin. In more detail, Hyundai Tucson-manufactured DV27K diesel engine mated to EST15K SNT dynamic transmission; BMC is developing a new engine called “Batu”.. The problem is not small, because this first batch, called T1, and a later batch, called T2, will include a large stock of locally manufactured components, with up to a thousand tanks being produced in the current decade.

*Photos used for production.

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