Altay is an advanced third generation main battle tank, designed and developed by Otokar of Turkey for the Turkish Army and export markets. It is named in honor of Army General Fahrettin Altay (1880–1974) who commanded the 5th Cavalry Corps in the final stage of the Turkish War of Independence.
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 94 km/h, 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.
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 of mass destruction.
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.
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 10 May 2011, Aselsan was contracted by the Undersecretariat for Defense Industries to design and develop two Battlefield Target Identification Device (BTID) prototypes. On 11 May 2011, the mock-up of Altay tank was introduced to the public in IDEF2011. 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. 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. The Altay completed testing from 3 July to 10 July 2013, meeting specified requirements. As a result, the Altay is ready for mass production.
Specifications
Weight: 65 tonnes (72 short tons; 64 long tons) (est.)
Length: 7.5 m (hull), 10.3 m (gun forward)
Width: 3.6 m
Height: 2.4 m
Crew: 4 (commander, gunner, loader, driver)
Armor: Composite Armour
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 (MTU) or 1800 hp (local design)
Suspension: Hydropneumatic
Operational range: 430 km
Speed: 70 km/h (43 mph) max.
Altay Main Battle Tank was first posted on December 5, 2013 at 12:35 pm.
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