IDEF 2025: Altay, Turkey’s Main Battle Tank
In the last 10 years, the Turkish defense industry has performed a sort of quantum leap: the country now produces their own jet fighters, submarines, dozens of different armored personnel carriers and infantry fighting vehicles and last but not least – their first domestically manufactured main battle tank – Altay.
The name Altay is the homage to Fahrettin Altay, famous general who served during World War I and the subsequent Turkish War of Independence, which led to establishment of the modern state of Turkey.
The development program for creation of Turkey’s own main battle tank started on 2007, when the government awarded the contract for R&D and production of prototypes to Otokar, one of the largest defense contractors in Turkey, well known for their armored vehicles. In 2018, after the initial development was completed, and another company called BMC Otomotiv was tasked with mass production of the vehicle.
Altay is largely based on the South Korean K2 tank, it was initially supposed to use German-made engines but due to political disagreements Germany refused to supply tank engines to Turkey.
Instead, BMC procured South Korean DV27K engines manufactured by HD Hyundai Infracore and EST15K transmissions produced by SNT Dynamics, another large South Korean defense contractor. The serial production of the tank reportedly started last year, and the delivery of the first three tanks is expected by end of August 2025.
Altay is equipped with a 120mm smoothbore gun made by MKEK. The fire control electronics and APS (active protection system) for Altay are supplied by the Turkish company Aselsan. The APS called Akkor is capable of destroying RPG rockets and other projectiles with 360-degree coverage and has jamming capabilities to achieve “soft-kill” of drones.
Despite initial challenges caused primarily by German refusal to supply engines, it seems that Altay will soon be fielded by Turkish armed forces and also become available for export.
Considering that demand for tanks right now far outweighs the production capacity of European factories, Altay might become an attractive option for various state clients, including some NATO members.