Image source: topwar.ru
Turkey has finally decided on the timing of the start of serial production of the main battle tank of its own design Altay, which in the future should replace the American M60 and German Leopard tanks in service in the Turkish army.
According to CNN Turk, serial production of Altay MBT should start within the next two years. The tank will go into series with a Turkish power plant, and not with a South Korean one, as previously reported. At least that's what the TV channel reports. According to him, the creation of the propulsion system is at the final stage, the work should be completed next year.
As previously reported, the Turks had problems with launching a new tank into the series after Germany refused to supply MTU MT883 engines due to the arms embargo imposed against Turkey. Initially, the tank was planned to be produced with German power plants. Later, the Turks turned to South Korean companies, but South Korea itself is experiencing difficulties with creating an engine for its own tank.
At the beginning of last year, it was reported that the Altay tank, which is almost ready for mass production, will receive a Turkish engine called Batu, the development of which started in 2018 at the facilities of BMC (a Turkish-Qatari company that previously won an engine development contract). Otokar is working on the new unit. Batu is a motor-transmission unit consisting of a diesel engine and an automatic transmission. The engine should have a power of 1600 hp, other parameters of the new power plant have not yet been reported.
The agreement on the design of the Altay tank was concluded in 2007, the first sample of the Altay tank was presented in May 2011 at the IDEF-2011 arms exhibition in Istanbul, in 2018 the process of developing and testing the tank was completed, after which it was announced the start of its production.
The weight of the tank is 60 tons, while it can reach speeds of up to 70 km / h. The car is equipped with a reservation system from Roketsan, as well as active protection and fire control systems developed by Aselsan. In addition, Altay tanks will be equipped with radiation and chemical threat detection systems. The 120 mm smoothbore gun is a copy of the Rheinmetall development, the hydropneumatic suspension is South Korean.
