Head of the Turkish Presidency of Defense Industries Prof. Dr. İsmail Demir answered some questions from members of the press regarding the agenda including some questions about ALTAY Main Battle Tank at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum.
Explaining that the ALTAY Main Battle Tank's engine was procured from South Korea, Demir said:
"The engine of the ALTAY Tank came from South Korea. The engine and power systems are currently being tested. We are waiting for May. We will see the prototype of the ALTAY tank with that engine in May."
Serial production of the Altay tank
Although the serial production contract of the tank was signed in 2018, Altay tank continues to be delayed due to supply problems of the engine and transmission systems.
Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu announced that in October 2021, South Korea and Turkey signed a 'statement of intent' regarding the supply of Altay's engines, and that this is an important step for the serial production of the main battle tank.
Minister of National Defense Hulusi Akar, in his speech in December 2021, said that BMC Defense produced the first Altay tank at the Tank Pallet factory in Arifiye.
When the engine problem is resolved, BMC will produce a total of 250 Altay tanks, 40 Altay-T1 and 210 Altay-T2, in the first production run.
Aselsan's Akkor (Active Protection System) and Roketsan's ERA armor solution will be used in the Altay-T1 model. In the T2 model, an improved armor system, isolated hull ammunition configuration, laser-guided shooting capability, crew training mode, mobile cloaking network capabilities will be added to the tank. In the T3 model, Altay tank will gain an advanced capability by implementing an unmanned turret.
