Altay (tank)

Altay MBT

Altay MBT
Type Main battle tank
Place of origin Turkey
Service history
In service Officially declared in 2015.[1] 2018 (date to enter full service).[2]
Used by Turkish Army[3]
Production history
Designer Otokar (main contractor)[3]
Aselsan (sub-systems and fire control system)[4]
MKEK (main gun system)[3]
Roketsan (armour package)[3]
Hyundai Rotem (technical support and assistance)[5]
Designed 2008–2012
Manufacturer 1st Army Maintenance Center Command[3]
Unit cost 5.5-6 million[6]
Number built 4 prototypes being tested. A total of 1,000 MBTs are planned to be produced in four separate lots of 250 units[7]
Specifications
Weight 65 tonnes (72 short tons; 64 long tons)[8]
Length 7.3 metres (24 ft) (hull), 10.3 metres (34 ft) (gun forward)[9]
Width 3.9 metres (13 ft)[9]
Height 2.6 metres (8.5 ft)[9]
Crew 4 (commander, gunner, loader, driver)[8]
Armor Roketsan composite armour[3]
Main
armament
 Aselsan/STM Volkan III assisted MKEK 120 mm 55 caliber smoothbore gun[10]
Secondary
armament
 1 × Aselsan STAMP/II stabilized remote controlled turret[3]
1 × 12.7 mm heavy machine gun[3]
Engine Multi-fuel[3]
1,500 hp (MTU)[3] or 1,800 hp (local design)[3]
Suspension Hydropneumatic
Operational
range
 500 kilometres (310 mi)[9]
Speed 70 km/h (43 mph) max.[11]
Under 120 mm gun
Under 50 tonnes
Over 50 tonnes
Not in service

The Altay is a modern main battle tank, designed and developed by Otokar, a subsidiary of Koç Holding, for the Turkish Army and export markets.[12][13][14] It is named in honor of Army General Fahrettin Altay (1880–1974)[15] who commanded the 5th Cavalry Corps in the final stage of the Turkish War of Independence.

History

National Tank Production Project (Turkish: MİTÜP – Milli Tank Üretimi Projesi), an initiative developed in mid-1990s to establish independent and robust infrastructure for the production, development and maintenance of main battle tanks used by Turkish Armed Forces.[16][17] The project was initiated with an agreement signed between Otokar and Undersecretariat for Defense Industries of the Republic of Turkey on 30 March 2007, when the Defense Industries Executive Committee awarded a contract worth approximately $500 million to Otokar for the design, development and production of four prototypes of a national main battle tank. This is Turkey's first MBT development program since 1943, when prototypes of a Turkish national tank were produced in Kırıkkale,[18] but never reached full-scale mass production.

Otokar, a company owned by Istanbul-based Koç Holding, is one of the major automotive manufacturers in Turkey. Otokar has produced more than 25,000 military vehicles as of 2008.[19]

Subsequently, in accordance with the later Defense Industries Executive Committee ruling, subcontractors were selected as follows:

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.

The Turkish Ministry of Defense allocated a budget of $1 billion for the development of the Altay.[21]

The military electronics company Aselsan manufactures and integrates 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 a modified and licensed produced Rheinmetall 120 mm gun. Another state company Roketsan designs 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.[22]

First 3D picture of Turkey’s new main battle tank, Altay, was released to public on 7 April 2010 during a press release by SSM. According to reports, a military envoy from Colombia was also present at the press meeting to obtain more information about the tank.[23]

In April 2013, officials of the Saudi Arabian Army reportedly became interested in the Altay main battle tank.[24]

At IDEF-2013, the Azerbaijan Army expressed interest in the Altay tank.[25]

Otokar placed a bid for 77 Altays for a tender in Oman in August 2013.[26]

The first prototype Altay Tank is ready to use by the end of 2016.[27]

In January 2016, Turkey reported that the Altay had received interest from Pakistan and Gulf Arab countries.[28]

Design

The tank is projected to have a 120 millimetres (4.7 in) smoothbore gun and will include CBRN defense elements, to protect it from chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear weapons. The planned maximum speed is set at 70 kilometres per hour (43 mph), provided by an 1,800 hp (1,300 kW) engine (the first two batches will have 1,500 hp (1,100 kW) engines), and the MBTs will be able to function under 4.1 metres (13 ft) of water.

The tank will benefit both from indigenously developed systems and from the armor technology of the South Korean K2 Black Panther, accorded by an 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.[29] 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.

Altay appears to share strong chassis characteristics with its technological base, the South Korean K2 Black Panther, with a re-designed Turkish turret and Aselsan's Volkan-III modular fire control system. The tank will be fielded with a STANAG 4579 compatible battlefield target identification system that ensures interoperability among small tank units. There are seven wheels, which translates to a longer hull, heavier armor and increased survivability.

While moving at high speeds, to evade ATGM attacks, sudden brakings and manevuring at severe angles are the capabilities that were taken into consideration from the early stages of development. Isolated ammunition compartment is designed to save tank crew from explosions alongside fire and explosion suppression systems which will activate in case of hit or accident. The tank is equipped with sensors for the detection of air contamination sourced from chemical and biological weapons.[13]

Electric engine

Otokar General Manager Serdar Görgüç has announced that the company is considering the development of an electric engine for the Altay. Görgüç stated that an electric engine would reduce the ability of the enemy to identify the tank with thermal cameras in the battle field. He added that "Vehicles with internal combustion can be caught on thermal cameras". Otokar developed an electric engine for its buses and is working on retrofitting its design to the Altay tank.[30]

Prototypes

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.[20]

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.[31]

On 15 October 2010, Otokar signed contract with MTU and Renk for the supply of power pack.[31]

On 15 December 2010, Defence Industry Executive Committee decided to start the development of national power pack.[32]

On 10 May 2011, Aselsan was contracted by the Undersecretariat for Defense Industries to design and develop two Battlefield Target Identification Device (BTID) prototypes.[33]

On 11 May 2011, the mock-up of Altay tank was introduced to the public in IDEF2011.[34][35]

On 18 October 2012, the first Altay was put on trials although lacking side skirts and using a mock-up turret to simulate a real turret.[36]

On 16 November 2012, two Altay prototypes successfully passed initial acceptance tests, paving the way for serial production 2 years earlier than expected, two more prototypes will be built by 2013 or 2014.[37][38]

The remaining two prototypes have been delivered to the Turkish Land Forces.[14]

Sales

The Altay will compete on the Turkish army contract estimated at $3.5B for a batch of 250 tanks. Three more similar batches are expected.[39]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Otokar'ın milli tankı, milli coşku yarattı - Ekonomi Haberleri". Radikal. 2010-10-16. Retrieved 2015-02-28.
  2. ↑ http://www.gazetevatan.com/milli-tank-icin-tarih-belli-oldu--790801-ekonomi/
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "Altay MBT". Military Factory. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
  4. ↑ "Altay Tankı Özellikleri". 9og. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
  5. ↑ "Erdogan: Turkish Tank Program Is Ahead of Schedule". defensenews.com. Retrieved 2015-02-28.
  6. ↑ "Altay tankı projesi için teklifler haftaya". 11 January 2016.
  7. ↑ "Milli Tank Altay'ın üretim serüveni - Ekonomi Haberleri". Sabah.com.tr. Retrieved 2015-02-28.
  8. 1 2 "Altay Main Battle Tank". Army Technology. 2011-06-15. Retrieved 2015-02-28.
  9. 1 2 3 4 "Army Guide – Altay". Army Guide. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
  10. ↑ "Defense & Security Intelligence & Analysis: IHS Jane's | IHS". Janes.com. Retrieved 2015-02-28.
  11. ↑ "Altay Turkish main battle tank vehicle technical data sheet specifications description pictures UK | Turkey Turkish heavy armoured tanks UK". Armyrecognition.com. Retrieved 2015-02-28.
  12. ↑ "Altay | Tracked Armored | Military Vehicles | Products". Otokar. Retrieved 2015-02-28.
  13. 1 2 "Altay Tank" (PDF). Roketsan.com.tr. Retrieved 2015-02-28.
  14. 1 2 "Otokar'ın en önemli projesi 'milli tank Altay' haberi Dünya.com'da". Dunya.com. 2014-03-22. Retrieved 2015-02-28.
  15. ↑ "Milli tank 'altay' için yola çıkıldı - Ekonomi Haberleri". Radikal. 2008-07-30. Retrieved 2015-02-28.
  16. ↑ Archived 8 April 2014 at the Wayback Machine.
  17. ↑ https://web.archive.org/20110722082812/http://www.ssm.gov.tr/home/projects/land/BattleTanks/Sayfalar/ALTAYPROJECT.aspx. Archived from the original on 22 July 2011. Retrieved 7 October 2010. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  18. ↑ "Savunma Sanayii Forum • Konuyu görüntüle - İlk Milli tank projesi ''MKE Kırıkkale 1943''". TRMilitary. 2010-08-27. Retrieved 2015-02-28.
  19. ↑ Archived 12 April 2011 at the Wayback Machine.
  20. 1 2 "ATAK helicopter to be airborne before end of 2009". Today's Zaman. Retrieved 17 April 2010.
  21. ↑ "Milli helikopterimiz parmak ısırtıyor". En son haber. 2013-01-28. Retrieved 2015-02-28.
  22. ↑ https://web.archive.org/20070922071251/http://www.turkishpress.com:80/news.asp?id=133903. Archived from the original on 22 September 2007. Retrieved 25 March 2008. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  23. ↑ "Otokar unveils the Altay MBT". TR Defence. 2010-04-07. Retrieved 2015-02-28.
  24. ↑ "Saudi Arabia could be interested to buy the future Turkish main battle tank Altay UAV Anka 2804132 | April 2013 news defence army military industry UK | Military army defense industry news year 2013". Armyrecognition.com. Retrieved 2015-02-28.
  25. ↑ "Azerbaijan shows interest for Turkish main battle tank Altay and 8x8 armoured vehicle ARMA 1705134 | May 2013 news defence army military industry UK | Military army defense industry news year 2013". Armyrecognition.com. 2013-05-17. Retrieved 2015-02-28.
  26. ↑ "Turkish Company Otokar could exported its new main battle tank ALTAY in Oman 1212141 | December 2014 global defense security news UK | Defense Security Global news Industry army 2014". Armyrecognition.com. Retrieved 2015-02-28.
  27. ↑ http://www.sabah.com.tr/ekonomi/2012/11/13/milli-tank-altayin-uretim-seruveni
  28. ↑ New Turkish-made main battle tank Altay has received interest from Pakistan and Gulf countries - Armyrecognition.com, 1 February 2016
  29. ↑ "Türk Kara Savunma Sektörünün Ulaştığı Nokta ve Hedefler" (in Turkish). Archived from the original on 20 May 2008.
  30. ↑ "Otokar mulls making of domestic ‘electric tank’". Hurriyetdailynews.com. Retrieved 2015-02-28.
  31. 1 2 "Savunma ve Stratejik Analizler: Otokar Haber Bültenin'den". Rewreward.blogspot.com. Retrieved 2015-02-28.
  32. ↑ Archived 18 December 2010 at the Wayback Machine.
  33. ↑ https://web.archive.org/20120331124425/http://www.ssm.gov.tr/home/projects/land/BattleTanks/Sayfalar/mstts.aspx. Archived from the original on 31 March 2012. Retrieved 8 September 2011. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  34. ↑ "Turkey introduces main battle tank Altay | Politics | Worldbulletin News". Worldbulletin.net. 2012-11-15. Retrieved 2015-02-28.
  35. ↑ "ALTAY TANK MOCK-UP - IDEF 2011 ISTANBUL". YouTube. 2011-05-13. Retrieved 2015-02-28.
  36. ↑ "Tank photograph" (JPG). Fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net. Retrieved 2015-02-28.
  37. ↑ "Turkey to reveal local tank ahead of deadline - ECONOMICS". Hurriyetdailynews.com. Retrieved 2015-02-28.
  38. ↑ "Altay tank project moves Turkey up a league in defense". En.trend.az. 2012-11-16. Retrieved 2015-02-28.
  39. ↑ "Altay Tankı’nın ihalesiyle Erdoğan niçin ilgileniyor". 25 January 2015.

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