Turkey Military News, Reports, Data, etc.
- Thread starter Jeff Head
- Start date
Right, but the Turks are short-cutting by collaborating with the British on the transmission. And btw, the Korean transmission is okay, just not the best. Turkey is going to use the Korean powerpack in their Altays as preliminary powerpack until the BATU is ready for production in 2-3 years time.
Powerpacks are different to transmissions. Chinese tank engines were fine and pretty much always been fine. Chinese tank transmissions have suffered and been problematic for a long time until after Type 98... which had plenty of transmission issues when used under duress. It took a good decade or so to overcome those problems for PLA 4th gen tanks.
Shortcutting with assistance probably would work out for Turkey though. It's just an understandably difficult part of developing MBT.
Shortcutting with assistance probably would work out for Turkey though. It's just an understandably difficult part of developing MBT.
Hi, can you explain by which way Turkey is being helped. Is it by actual ToT, hiring experienced employees from another country, getting access to advanced facilities/software for testing/manufacturing/testing etc?
Their progress seems abnormally fast for a country making so many indigenous military programs. IMO there must be definetely some countries actively assisting it.
I know that Britain has historically been in good terms with Turkey, and I have heard that Germany has helped(still helping?) them on subs
Is there a list where we can see what countries are assisting Turkey in specific military programs?
There is a relatively less reported 100 billion lira annual budget that goes directly to the defense industry bypassing the military. Research, engineering and prototype building are financed by that 100 billion. It means the military R&D budget of Turkey is $12 billion. Considering the US military R&D budget is $40-50 billion, $12 billion is considerable spending.
There is no strong confirmation, but it seems the Doosan engine and S&T transmission is chosen to power the first batches of the Altay tank. It seems the Turks find the Korean transmission adequate and I can't blame them. They can't afford to delay the Altay production any longer. The indigenous BATU powerpack will eventually be used from 2024 onward.
Yes the South Koreans have got their 1500hp engine (Doosan DV27K) working fine on the K2 but the S&T transmission is still not proper.
The proof of this is the latest batch they ordered last year still uses the German transmission (RENK HSWL 295 TM).
It simply does not reach the required durability levels yet.
The proof of this is the latest batch they ordered last year still uses the German transmission (RENK HSWL 295 TM).
It simply does not reach the required durability levels yet.
I know, 9300km was the requirement, reached 'only' 7600km or so? But perhaps the Turks find it good enough for now. They are desperate to get the Altay up and running, while in the meantime kinks get sorted out in the Korean transmission and a new, indigenous powerpack is in sight.