Turkey's Altay tank: A new era for national defence production
After a long period of development and numerous problems, Turkey has launched the production of its own Altay main battle tank. The commencement of production – despite the need for cooperation with foreign partners – is an important success for the Turkish defense sector. What do we know about the new tank?
Altay is a Turkish main battle tank, classified as a fourth-generation machine. The T1 variant has entered production – a vehicle weighing about 65 tonnes, armed with a 120mm (4.7-inch) MKE tank gun (the Turkish variant of the Korean CN08) and protected by modular special armour made in Turkey, developed based on the Korean Special Armor Plate (KSAP).
Turkish reactive armour enhances protection against shaped charges. The fire control system and ASOP—Aselsan AKKOR active defence system, which combines soft-kill (disrupting guidance) and hard-kill (physically destroying incoming missiles) with jamming and electronic warfare elements, are also products of Turkish ingenuity.
From the Turkish industry's perspective, the new tank's Achilles' heel – and the reason for delays in starting its production – remains the engine and transmission, which at the current stage come from South Korea. Ultimately, subsequent production batches of the Altay tank are expected to feature a Turkish engine.
The new tank will free Turkey from imports while also providing—for political reasons—an alternative to Russian and Western designs.
Turkey as a model for defense sector development
The commencement of serial production of the new tank is undoubtedly a great success for Turkey. Although the tank's development, initiated in 2005, was prolonged, and issues related to the drive system significantly delayed its introduction to production, the program eventually reached a successful conclusion.
In this context, it is worth noting that Turkey was primarily a client of Eastern and Western arms companies for decades. Consistent efforts to strengthen its industry, reinforced by constant threats (a regional rival – despite joint participation in NATO – remains unchanged, Greece) and experiences from conflicts with Kurds and Daesh, have led to Turkey's growing independence.
Currently, the country independently produces, among other things, combat drones (Bayraktar), self-propelled artillery (T-155 Fırtına), helicopters (T929 ATAK 2), aircraft (TAI Kaan) or ships (the Anadolu assault ship and plans for a light aircraft carrier).
Despite the problems accompanying its development program, having its own tank further confirms the Turkish industry's capabilities and is an example of the transition from an arms importer to a producer. And all this with lower defence spending – despite being involved in military operations – than Poland.
