Under the leadership of BMC Otomotiv Sanayi ve Ticaret A.Ş., the largest manufacturer of commercial and military vehicles in Turkey, series production of the Turkish Altay T1 main battle tank will start this year.
More than 600 companies are involved in production. Among them are the giants of the Turkish defense industry Aselsan, Roketsan and Havelsan. The construction of a 63,000 square meter production hall in Ankara is nearing completion. The plant is designed for an output of up to eight vehicles per month.
The plan envisages ramping up production of a total of 85 Altay T1s by 2028. Three vehicles are to be delivered this year, eleven in 2026, 41 in 2027 and 30 more in 2028. From then on, up to four Altay T2 main battle tanks are to be produced per month. The Turkish army is planning to procure a total of 165 T2 vehicles. The project has been running since 2009, including the political decision on development and production.
The Altay T1 is equipped with a 1,500 hp engine and transmission manufactured in Turkey – a step towards the greatest possible independence from foreign suppliers. The main weapon is a 120 millimeter/L55 smoothbore cannon from MKE, supplemented by a coaxially mounted 7.62 millimeter machine gun. A remote-controlled weapon station is to be installed on the roof, which can be equipped with either a 7.62 millimeter or 12.7 millimeter machine gun. In addition, an active defense system of the Akkor type – with hard-kill and soft-kill functionality – will be integrated by Aselsan.
Türkiye’s next-generation #ALTAY main battle tank, often referred to as the ‘most advanced’ in #NATO, will begin serial production in August using its 1500HP indigenous power group, Turkish VP #CevdetYilmaz confirmed today. 🇹🇷 pic.twitter.com/mbYAJM3dBU
– Turkish Century (@TurkishCentury) December 18, 2024
With a length of 7.3 meters (10.3 meters including cannon), a width of 3.9 meters, a height of 2.6 meters and a weight of around 65 tons, the Altay T1 offers an impressive platform.
The future Altay T3 version, which will have an unmanned turret with an automatic loader, is already being planned. The three crew members will be housed in a heavily armoured capsule in the nose of the fuselage – supplemented by VR goggles that enable optimized observation of the space around the tank.
