Turkey Military News, Reports, Data, etc.
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Yalçıntaş: “The new ALTAY will be delivered to the Turkish Armed Forces on April 23”
BMC General Manager Murat Yalçıntaş announced that the BMC DEFENSE production ALTAY Main Battle Tank, which they named "New ALTAY", will be delivered to the Turkish Armed Forces on April 23, 2023.
Speaking at the BMC DEFENSE Press and Media Meeting held the other day, BMC General Manager General Manager Murat Yalçıntaş made important statements about the ALTAY Main Battle Tank and the company's activities. Yalçıntaş announced the delivery date of the ALTAY Tank, which the company describes as the 'New ALTAY'.
According to the information we gathered from the press conference as SavunmaSanayiST.com; Serial production activities within the scope of the ALTAY Main Battle Tank Project, which was officially launched on July 29, 2008, could not start for a while due to Germany's power group embargo. BMC will deliver ALTAY Tanks, produced with power groups supplied from South Korea, to the Turkish Armed Forces this year.
“New ALTAY” Will Be Delivered in April 2023
BMC won the serial production tender for the ALTAY Tank, developed by Otokar, in 2018. So far, 5 ALTAY Tanks have been produced at BMC, Arifiye. Currently, 2 ALTAY Main Battle Tanks (AMT) are being prepared for delivery. These two tanks, which are integrated with the power group supplied from South Korea, are planned to be delivered to the Turkish Armed Forces on April 23, 2023.
According to the statement made by BMC General Manager Murat Yalçıntaş; A long-term test program awaits the 2 ALTAY Tanks to be delivered in April. These field tests, which will be carried out with the participation of the Turkish Armed Forces, Presidency of Defense Industries and BMC officials, are expected to take 1.5 to 2 years. The company aims to start the mass production of ALTAY with the Korean Power Group in 2025.
Why “New ALTAY”?
As mentioned above, BMC names the tanks currently produced in Arifiye as "New ALTAY". BMC Defense General Manager Mehmet Karaaslan, who has been in the ALTAY Project since Otokar's term, explains the reason for this naming as follows: "The tank we have at the moment is not an old tank. This is completely “New ALTAY”. During this time, we had the chance to localize many pieces. There have been many battles during this time, many lessons learned from them, and many changes to the tank as a result.”
On the other hand, Karaaslan stated that the ALTAY Tank was not produced by BMC; He added that many people had a great effort in the program until this stage, which has been reached for more than 20 years.
ALTAY-NEWS-2
Germany didn't just embargo the power group
BMC DEFENSE General Manager Mehmet Karaaslan emphasized that Germany did not impose an embargo only on the power group within the scope of the ALTAY project, “Why was it so late? When the first prototype of ALTAY was built, basically the power pack was the engine that would come from a foreign country. There were other subsystems that would come from the same western country.
This western country, using some of the operations carried out by the Turkish Armed Forces as an excuse, refused to give them to Turkey. When these are not supplied, the tank becomes unmanufacturable. In a highly strategic land combat vehicle such as a tank, one should not be dependent on the outside. Many parts, especially the power group, were requested to be localized. Work on this has begun.” used the phrases.
According to the information we have obtained, the localized parts and previously supplied countries are as follows:
Speed Reducer (Germany)
Gunner 2nd Degree Sight System (Germany) (reserve gunners sight)
Pallet (South Korea)
Tower Gear (South Korea)
Rotor (South Korea)
Ammunition Racks (Germany)
Periscopes (Germany)
Fuel and Hydraulic Pumps (Germany)
Mobile Obfuscation Network (?)
Coaxial Machine Gun (Belgium)
ALTAY Tank News 3
Why was the power group supplied from Korea?
Karaaslan explained why the power group was supplied from Korea for ALTAY as follows: “The production, design and testing of so many systems is something that will take a lot of time. Wherever you look, the power group is a 6-7 year process. So, will the Turkish army be without tanks for 6-7 years? At that time, it was said that until these domestic solutions come, you should find alternatives for foreign countries that do not. Whenever domestic solutions come, then if you integrate these domestic solutions into the tank.
In 2025, he will head the mass production of New ALTAYs with the Korea Power Group and will be delivered to the TAF. Starting from the second half of 2026, it is planned to continue mass production of New ALTAYs with the domestic and national power group produced by BMC POWER.”
BMC General Manager Murat Yalçıntaş announced that the BMC DEFENSE production ALTAY Main Battle Tank, which they named "New ALTAY", will be delivered to the Turkish Armed Forces on April 23, 2023.
Speaking at the BMC DEFENSE Press and Media Meeting held the other day, BMC General Manager General Manager Murat Yalçıntaş made important statements about the ALTAY Main Battle Tank and the company's activities. Yalçıntaş announced the delivery date of the ALTAY Tank, which the company describes as the 'New ALTAY'.
According to the information we gathered from the press conference as SavunmaSanayiST.com; Serial production activities within the scope of the ALTAY Main Battle Tank Project, which was officially launched on July 29, 2008, could not start for a while due to Germany's power group embargo. BMC will deliver ALTAY Tanks, produced with power groups supplied from South Korea, to the Turkish Armed Forces this year.
“New ALTAY” Will Be Delivered in April 2023
BMC won the serial production tender for the ALTAY Tank, developed by Otokar, in 2018. So far, 5 ALTAY Tanks have been produced at BMC, Arifiye. Currently, 2 ALTAY Main Battle Tanks (AMT) are being prepared for delivery. These two tanks, which are integrated with the power group supplied from South Korea, are planned to be delivered to the Turkish Armed Forces on April 23, 2023.
According to the statement made by BMC General Manager Murat Yalçıntaş; A long-term test program awaits the 2 ALTAY Tanks to be delivered in April. These field tests, which will be carried out with the participation of the Turkish Armed Forces, Presidency of Defense Industries and BMC officials, are expected to take 1.5 to 2 years. The company aims to start the mass production of ALTAY with the Korean Power Group in 2025.
Why “New ALTAY”?
As mentioned above, BMC names the tanks currently produced in Arifiye as "New ALTAY". BMC Defense General Manager Mehmet Karaaslan, who has been in the ALTAY Project since Otokar's term, explains the reason for this naming as follows: "The tank we have at the moment is not an old tank. This is completely “New ALTAY”. During this time, we had the chance to localize many pieces. There have been many battles during this time, many lessons learned from them, and many changes to the tank as a result.”
On the other hand, Karaaslan stated that the ALTAY Tank was not produced by BMC; He added that many people had a great effort in the program until this stage, which has been reached for more than 20 years.
ALTAY-NEWS-2
Germany didn't just embargo the power group
BMC DEFENSE General Manager Mehmet Karaaslan emphasized that Germany did not impose an embargo only on the power group within the scope of the ALTAY project, “Why was it so late? When the first prototype of ALTAY was built, basically the power pack was the engine that would come from a foreign country. There were other subsystems that would come from the same western country.
This western country, using some of the operations carried out by the Turkish Armed Forces as an excuse, refused to give them to Turkey. When these are not supplied, the tank becomes unmanufacturable. In a highly strategic land combat vehicle such as a tank, one should not be dependent on the outside. Many parts, especially the power group, were requested to be localized. Work on this has begun.” used the phrases.
According to the information we have obtained, the localized parts and previously supplied countries are as follows:
Speed Reducer (Germany)
Gunner 2nd Degree Sight System (Germany) (reserve gunners sight)
Pallet (South Korea)
Tower Gear (South Korea)
Rotor (South Korea)
Ammunition Racks (Germany)
Periscopes (Germany)
Fuel and Hydraulic Pumps (Germany)
Mobile Obfuscation Network (?)
Coaxial Machine Gun (Belgium)
ALTAY Tank News 3
Why was the power group supplied from Korea?
Karaaslan explained why the power group was supplied from Korea for ALTAY as follows: “The production, design and testing of so many systems is something that will take a lot of time. Wherever you look, the power group is a 6-7 year process. So, will the Turkish army be without tanks for 6-7 years? At that time, it was said that until these domestic solutions come, you should find alternatives for foreign countries that do not. Whenever domestic solutions come, then if you integrate these domestic solutions into the tank.
In 2025, he will head the mass production of New ALTAYs with the Korea Power Group and will be delivered to the TAF. Starting from the second half of 2026, it is planned to continue mass production of New ALTAYs with the domestic and national power group produced by BMC POWER.”
One other thing I just realized — no HUD. This means that the pilot will rely on HMD exclusively aka F-35 and shows that they are confident about a no HUD solution.
Firtina NG SPG to be produced with UTKU powerpack starting from 2025:
According to the information obtained by SavunmaSanayiST.com; BMC has completed the production of 6 New Generation FIRTINA Howitzers so far. In the produced howitzers, backup power groups previously supplied from Germany for the T-155 FIRTINA were used. BMC will produce 4 more New Generation FIRTINA Howitzers with the German power groups in hand. However, BMC has no expectations from Germany, which imposes an embargo on Turkey for the engines of the New Generation FIRTINA Howitzers. The company will use the UTKU Power Group, whose development activities are carried out by BMC POWER, in the production of the remaining 130 New Generation FIRTINA Howitzers. Starting from 2025, it is planned to produce the Next Generation STORM with the UTKU Power Group.
Thanks Germany!
According to the information obtained by SavunmaSanayiST.com; BMC has completed the production of 6 New Generation FIRTINA Howitzers so far. In the produced howitzers, backup power groups previously supplied from Germany for the T-155 FIRTINA were used. BMC will produce 4 more New Generation FIRTINA Howitzers with the German power groups in hand. However, BMC has no expectations from Germany, which imposes an embargo on Turkey for the engines of the New Generation FIRTINA Howitzers. The company will use the UTKU Power Group, whose development activities are carried out by BMC POWER, in the production of the remaining 130 New Generation FIRTINA Howitzers. Starting from 2025, it is planned to produce the Next Generation STORM with the UTKU Power Group.
Thanks Germany!
To my knowledge, all the countries I listed have produced GaN radars. One of the reasons why I don't know if we can include the UK is that Sampson is a GaAs radar.
There seems to be a little disagreement between the head of TAI and SSB about the first flight of the TF-X. Kotil wants it to fly at the end of 2023 while Demir (SSB) wants to be cautious and expects late 2024 or 2025 and delivery to the air force in 2030 instead of Kotil's schedule of 2028. Yesterday there were quotes going around of Kotil affirming the 2023 first flight and 2028 delivery year. IMO I don't think this is a settled thing and there will be further talks about it.
Ismail Demir quotes:
Ismail Demir quotes:
- "TAI has ambitious dates for its first flight. This is an important concept. It is useful to be very cautious and careful. The rules of aviation are written in blood. The cautious date is the end of 2024 and 2025."
- Also there is work on a domestic engine for the Hürjet although this plane is not a priority.
- F-16 Ozgur modernization with AESA radar will also be applied to Block 40 and 50. Together with the AESA radar and other systems, they will technologically reach the level of Blok 70, even beyond the Viper
- SAMP/T positive atmosphere at the top level is not felt at the company level. Regardless Turkish companies continue as usual and focus on indigenous products.
- Give or take 40 days and ANKA-III and Hurjet will fly.
- We'll see the TB3 this year. Some changes are being made to its production.
- ZAHA AAV first deliveries made to the Turkish navy.
I would like to add these quotes of Demir:
"The price of the MMU will be much cheaper than the F-35."
"Gökbey is in mass production. We are completing 3 for the Gendarmerie, we will deliver them soon. Civil certification flights continue. Our aim is to produce 2 helicopters per month as of June. We think we can sell at least 1,000."