View attachment 42505
The 120 mm ammunition produced by MKE has almost the same performance and specifications as the 120 mm ammunition
M322,
M325 made in Israel, which I have often seen at Defense Expo. It's probably an ammunition produced by obtaining license rights from Elbit Systems in Israel.
When
Otokar developed Altay tanks, they imported
DM53 and
DM63 to conduct firepower tests for Altay tanks, but now they are banned from importing German ammunition, so they seem to be supplied with ammunition from Israel. Considering that the ammunition used by Turkish forces in Syria in the past in
Sabra tanks was also
K276 APFSDS imported from South Korea, receiving ammunition from Israel is not a bad option. It is a smart two-track strategy for Turkey to supplied 120 mm tank ammunition from Israel because of the German arms embargo.
And some people might think, "
Why doesn't Turkiye develop its own 120 mm ammunition?"
Currently, only 11 countries in the world develop and produce 120 mm ammunition by themselves. So can't other countries develop their own ammunition? No, not at all. They know that it is much more cost effective to import and use ammunition from abroad than to develop and produce it on their own. We should focus on economic reasons for this.
I don't need to be unnecessarily serious here, but I want to explain. The development and production of 120 mm ammunition requires research and development including
metallurgy,
chemical,
composite materials,
electrical engineering, and
ballistic engineering, and an independent production plant that produces
penetrators (Tungsten alloy),
propellants (Plasticizer),
sabot (Light metal), and
combustible cartridge case (Cellulose compounds).
And if Turkey develops and produces its own ammunition, how much will it cost to get 120 mm ammunition? Also, if Turkey imports ammunition from Israel, how much would it cost to get 120 mm of ammunition? I understand why the majority of Turkish are obsessed with localization, but the military industry is also an area where cost and efficiency are important.
Considering the current political and economic situation in Turkey, Turkey will need a lot of money to develop and produce 120mm ammunition on its own. Assuming Turkey can buy 10 120 mm ammunition from Israel at a cost of $1,000, if Turkey develops and produces 120 mm ammunition on its own, it will only get six 120 mm ammunition at $1000. There's a bad example of this: the
Altay tank. The estimated cost of producing an
Altay tank is
13.75 million dollars, while the cost of producing a
K2 tank, which was teased a few years ago as an expensive tank, is
8.5 million dollars. Of course, the cost of tank production could go down even further when Altay's mass production. And there are many other reasons why the production cost of Altay tanks has increased.
I know that in Turkey's current political situation, localizing parts is an important issue when developing military weapons. But what I want to say here is that don't have to be too obsessed with localization in the process of developing military weapons. The military industry is also an area where benefits and losses exist in the end.
View attachment 42507
Conclusion: Dolar molar, Altay tanklarının üretimini durduramaz. (Dollars or nothing can't stop the production of Altay tanks)
