Future Armoured Vehicles Central and Eastern Europe: SSB outlines latest Altay developments, draws on Syria experience

Locally named ‘Yeni Altay', this latest iteration of the Altay MBT reflects lessons learned from tank crews in Syria. (BMC)

The latest version of Turkey's Altay main battle tank (MBT) reflects some of the lessons learned by Turkish forces during operations in Syria, Tugrul Gazi, programme manager for main battle tank systems at Turkey's Defence Industry Agency (SSB), said at SAE Media's Future Armoured Vehicles conference held in Prague from 15 to 16 May.

The ‘New Altay' incorporates several new features ahead of the planned serial production of the tank by 2025. Major additions include the integration of Aselsan's Akkor active protection system (APS), improved passive armour, a new electro-optical panoramic sight, an escape hatch for the crew, and placing ammunition storage racks on either side of the driver. Other changes include the replacement of up to 16 components and subsystems that could not be imported from international manufacturers with those from Turkish companies.

Janes understands that the Akkor APS is not yet capable of engaging loitering or top-attack munitions. However, Gazi said that efforts are under way to introduce the ability to engage these threats. Also speaking at the conference, Bora Beyter, Aselsan project manager, said that Akkor can share bearing information on missile or rocket launch positions.

The SSB has divided deliveries of the Altay for the Turkish Land Forces into three tranches – Altay T1, which includes the features of the ‘New Altay'; Altay T2, which intends to replace SNT Dynamic's EST15K transmission and Doosan's DV27K powerpack with an indigenous solution named ‘Batu'; and Altay T3, which Janes