Altay (battle tank)

Altay
General properties
crew	4 (commander, gunner, loader, driver)
length	7.3 meters (hull), 10.3 meters (gun pointing forward)
width	3.9 meters
height	2.6 meters
Dimensions	65 tons
	Armor and armament
Armor	Composite armor , reactive armor
Main armament	Rheinmetall 120 mm smoothbore cannon L / 55
Secondary armament	ASELSAN SARP weapon station with 12.7 mm machine gun (deck structure) and ; 1 × 7.62 mm MG3 machine gun
agility
drive	12-cylinder diesel engine, water-cooled ; prototypes: MTU MB-883 Ka500 ; planned: BMC BATU 1500; 1100 kW (1500 PS)
suspension	hydropneumatic
Top speed	70 km / h
Power / weight

The Altay is a Turkish main battle tank based on the South Korean model K2 Black Panther . The first prototype was presented to the public in 2012.

history

On March 30, 2007, Turkey decided to build its own tank based on the South Korean K2 Black Panther. In 2008 the contracts were signed with the South Korean company Hyundai Rotem . The Turkish version of the main battle tank is called Altay and is to be manufactured in Turkey by the companies BMC , Aselsan , MKEK and Roketsan . The name was chosen in honor of the Turkish general and politician Fahrettin Altay . Originally, four lots with a total of 1,000 pieces were to be produced within ten years, replacing the almost 1,700 M48 , M60 in the reserve and the approximately 400 Leopard 1 . Four prototypes existed in May 2016.

In 2017, Rheinmetall wanted to participate in future tenders in Turkey through a joint venture (Rheinmetall BMC Savunma Sanayi ve Tic. A.Ş. (RBSS)) with the Turkish commercial vehicle manufacturer BMC and the Etika Strategi holding company from Malaysia . On November 9, 2018, the Turkish Ministry of Defense announced that the order for the production of the first 250 main battle tanks had been awarded to the Turkish truck and commercial vehicle manufacturer BMC . The contract provided for maintenance and a second tranche of 210 tanks. The first handover of the tanks was planned for mid-2020. The main armament is a Rheinmetall 120 mm cannon, which is also used in the Leopard 2; this is produced under license by the also Turkish company Makina ve Kimya Endüstrisi Kurumu (MKEK).

Eleven months later, in October 2019, BMC Managing Director Ethem Sancak announced a project delay of another two years. The main reason given was the lack of western industrial partners and the resulting development difficulties in the powertrain. The Austrian engine manufacturer AVL List stopped the cooperation in 2015 after three months due to legal hurdles; Tümosan then terminated the cooperation. The engine manufacturer MTU and the transmission manufacturer Renk, whose drive train is built into the prototypes, are also not available. Rheinmetall's participation in BMC was ended because Rheinmetall did not receive an export permit from the government. Since the attempted coup in Turkey in 2016 , the federal government has been restrictive.

protection

The Altay is protected by third-generation composite and reactive armor . The tub has mine protection and an NBC protection system . In addition to a laser warning system, there is also a friend-foe recognition and SIF system ( Selective Identification Feature ) according to STANAG 4579.

The thickness of the armor roughly corresponds to that of the M1A2 Abrams . Reactive armor is used on the more weakly armored sides and on the roof, while composite armor is strongest on the front of the vehicle. Among other things, this increases the battlefield mobility and the fuel consumption of the vehicle is reduced. In addition, the tank is equipped with distance-active protective measures . In the initial phase, they include a soft kill system of the VIRSS (Visual and Infrared Screening Smoke) type. Fog warfare agent , in the later version (Product Improvement Program) a hardkill system is to be installed, which is currently still in development. The tank has a radar and laser warning system ( ESM ) in order to warn the crew if the tank is discovered and homing and to interfere with the signals ( ECM ). In addition, the Altay has a 360 ° millimeter wave radar with which approaching projectiles and nearby helicopters and aircraft can be recorded. The target data obtained in this way can be passed on directly to the fire control system for rapid combat.

Armament

The main armament of the Altay is a Rheinmetall 120 mm smoothbore cannon L / 55 , which is also installed in the Leopard 2A6 . The Turkish company MKEK manufactures the cannon under license. The Turkish army waived the automatic charging of the K2 Black Panther and sets instead continue on a gun loader . This increases the crew from three to four soldiers (commander, gunner, loader, driver).

The computer-aided fire control system with hunter-killer capability should enable a high first hit probability even when moving. The 360 ° periscope offers the commander a panoramic view of the battlefield.

MKEK tank ammunition

The secondary armament consists of a coaxial MG3 caliber 7.62 mm and a weapon station with a 12.7 mm or 7.62 mm machine gun that can be operated under armor protection .

The on-board cannon can fire all common NATO cartridges in 120 mm caliber. In the event of a battle, however, only two of the following three are loaded:

APFSDS (Armor-Piercing Fin-Stabilized Discarding Sabot), balancing projectiles.
HEAT-MP-T (High Explosive Anti-Tank Multi-Purpose Tracer), high-explosive shaped charge projectile for anti-tank defense with tracer.
Anti-tank guided weapons

drive

The Altay prototypes were equipped with a 12-cylinder multi-fuel engine from the German manufacturer MTU Friedrichshafen . Since the German companies had concerns about a technology transfer to Turkey, Turkey is planning series production with a 1324 kW Batu engine produced by BMC Power. The drive program and consequently the series production of the Altay has been delayed until now. The Renk - Powershift automatic gearbox has five forward and three reverse gears. A gas turbine is also installed, which is responsible for powering the electronics when the diesel engine is switched off.

landing gear

The Altay is equipped with a hydropneumatic suspension. While the chassis of the K2 Black Panther uses six rollers, the production version of the Altay should have seven. Thanks to a foldable shaft that is carried along, the Altay is capable of deep wading up to 2.25 meters . A longer underwater shaft makes it possible to cross bodies of water with a depth of 4 meters. The tub has a thermal imaging device at the front and rear for the driver.

International participations

Components	Suppliers	Country of origin
Licensor / advice	Hyundai Rotem	Korea South South Korea
Fire control system / C3I	Aselsan	Turkey Turkey
Diesel engine	MTU Friedrichshafen (only pre-series)	Germany Germany
Rheinmetall 120 mm smoothbore cannon L / 55 (pre-production) MKEK 120mm smoothbore cannon (series)	MKEK	Germany Germany Turkey Turkey
Powershift automatic	Renk AG	Germany Germany
Serial production	BMC Otokar (pre-series)	Turkey Turkey

interested persons

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan
Qatar Qatar
Oman Oman
Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia

Web links

Commons : Altay (Main Battle Tank) - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Turkish Armed Forces video, 1:22 minutes video: Altay Tank First Fire Test - Altay Tank Atış ilk Testi on YouTube
Otokar: Main Battle Tank Altay (PDF; 765 kB)

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Prototype of the "Altay" battle tank. In: ASMZ No. 4, 2013, p. 40.
↑ Südkurier : Turkey is building its own Leo. Retrieved October 27, 2014.
↑ www.hendekmedyahaber.com
↑ What about the ALTAY? ( Memento of the original of September 27, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: ASMZ No. 5, 2016, p. 50f, accessed on September 27, 2016 @1@ 2

↑ spiegel.de: Rheinmetall is vying for orders in Turkey.

↑ Turkish Altay battle tank goes into series production. ( Memento of the original from November 9, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on turkishpress.de from November 9, 2018 @1@ 2

↑ Turkish battle tank without Austrian help turkishpress.de. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on August 26, 2018 ; accessed on May 22, 2018 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.

↑ BITS Turkish Altay tank - delay due to lack of technology.

↑ Rheinmetall doesn't want to build tanks for Erdogan.

↑ Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung - Export stop for arms hardly hits Turkey , accessed on May 9, 2020

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Otokar: Main Battle Tank Altay. (PDF; 765 kb)

↑ Defense-Update.com Active Protection for the South Korean K-2 Main Battle Tank ( Memento from July 4, 2011 in the Internet Archive )