TR Altay Main Battle Tank & Related Programs

[TulkarMan]

Are there any recent news about how the powerpack tests are going?

At IDEF'23, it’s announced that tests on Altay Tank's powerpack, including the indigenously designed transmission was successful.
According to BMC, It is expected that the final test results will be announced a year later and the mass production of the Batu engine threshold will be reached in 2026.

 

[Pilatino]

Are there any recent news about how the powerpack tests are going?

Better beyond imagination. I can't wait.

 

[Windchime]

Guess there's total silence regarding the Korean powerpack on two prototypes under evaluation.

 

[Darth micky mouse]

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I personaly think with the Ukraine russia war the time of these 60 ton steel beasts are gone. I think we need more modern lightweight tanks with modern ATGM instead of big canons. An ATGM always means 100% kill ratio while canon rounds can miss or not penetrate from false angle. I think we must redesign ALTAY according to the war in ukraine.

 

[TheInsider]

Guess there's total silence regarding the Korean powerpack on two prototypes under evaluation.

The latest plan is to buy a low amount of Korean powerpacks and commit to a Turkish powerpack as the results are really good on both the engine and transmission side. The main focus right now is the new BMC factory that is being built in Ankara. BMC will make an announcement before the end of this year probably in a few months.

 

[Huelague]

I personaly think with the Ukraine russia war the time of these 60 ton steel beasts are gone. I think we need more modern lightweight tanks with modern ATGM instead of big canons. An ATGM always means 100% kill ratio while canon rounds can miss or not penetrate from false angle. I think we must redesign ALTAY according to the war in ukraine.

Because they dont have any sophisticated soft or hard- kill systems. We will have.

 

[Brave Janissary]

A good video about one of the biggest rivals of Altay

 

[Sanchez]

Doubt Altay and Merkava will ever come against each other in a tender or on the open field.

 

[Afif]

Doubt Altay and Merkava will ever come against either in a tender or on the open field.

Yes, Israelis won't sell Markava IV M or IV barak.

 

[Brave Janissary]

This is not about real war or export market. Just for tech comparison.

 

[Huelague]

Merkava, Abrahams, Leopard, Panther,they all upgrade their tanks to a next generation tank. We have to redesign Altay.

 

[Sanchez]

What does "New Altay" lack that its competitors have?

 

[Zafer]

We have been redesigning all along.

 

[Huelague]

What does "New Altay" lack that its competitors have?

Caliber, armor, E/O suits …

 

[Radko]

Caliber, armor, E/O suits …

Altay has enough armour for its job and has a wonderful system called Örümcek for E/O

 

[Yasar_TR]

What does "New Altay" lack that its competitors have?

We need to look at NOT what it’s competitors have; but what it’s competitors WILL have when it is fully in TSK inventory in meaningful numbers. And better that.

Most importantly the crew quarters will have to be changed so that no matter what happens to the tank, the crew must survive. There will always be new technologies that will be able to destroy a tank no matter how well it is protected.

AI usage and virtual reality helmets need to be introduced to give 360 degree visibility with aerial drone help.

Self preservation technology need to be applied more profusely. Armour and AKKOR application must be improved further against multiple attacks.

Use of long range gun launched anti tank and anti personnel missiles will have to be adopted.

These are just a few points that need to be addressed. Feel free to add!

 

[Radko]

We need to look at NOT what it’s competitors have; but what it’s competitors WILL have when it is fully in TSK inventory in meaningful numbers. And better that.

Most importantly the crew quarters will have to be changed so that no matter what happens to the tank, the crew must survive. There will always be new technologies that will be able to destroy a tank no matter how well it is protected.

AI usage and virtual reality helmets need to be introduced to give 360 degree visibility with aerial drone help.

Self preservation technology need to be applied more profusely. Armour and AKKOR application must be improved further against multiple attacks.

Use of long range gun launched anti tank and anti personnel missiles will have to be adopted.

These are just a few points that need to be addressed. Feel free to add!

Örümcek is there for 360° visibility.

I would like to see an Akkor reloading system tbh

Please don't expect much range from gun launched missiles, they are limited by many factors.

What would be better is a good prog. HE shell, idk if we make those

 

[Afif]

What does "New Altay" lack that its competitors have?

Overall, Altay as a Tank can go toe to toe with any modern MBT on the market.
But when it comes to main armament, USA and Russia still has the upperhand in APFSDS technology. 3BM69 or M829A4 with (rumored) penetration value of 900-1000mm against RHA makes them considerably ahead of their competitors.

While DM-63 or K279 has penetration value of approximately 700mm against RHA.

perhaps, this is the area where Türkiye can cooperate with Pakistan on DU penetrator. Once Türkiye aquire the technology it can improve it far better than Pakistan as it has much better R&D capability and necessary infrastructures.

 

[Yasar_TR]

Örümcek is there for 360° visibility.

I would like to see an Akkor reloading system tbh

Please don't expect much range from gun launched missiles, they are limited by many factors.

What would be better is a good prog. HE shell, idk if we make those

Great! Örümcek is the way forward. But it is still in development stage and not integrated in to the tank’s systems yet.

Israeli gun launched missiles Lahat can reach 8000m with anti tank or anti personnel rounds. No sabot round can have effective range half of that. HE rounds are not that great either due to smooth bore guns’ inferior accuracy.

 

[Sanchez]

Caliber, armor, E/O suits …

120mm is a perfectly fine caliber. I don't think a move to 130 or even 140 is worth the hassle.
We don't know much about new armor specifics so I can't comment on that.
Re EOs tho, M60TM have a more comprehensive EO suit than any other tank on the market today, we know that right? Re AR with helmets, I can see that being worked at for the second iteration. Doubt the tech is really ready for this just yet.
LAHAT like missiles are an addition, not a requirement. And for any potential export, it's the trusty L55, plenty of matching missiles on the market.

Only actual upgrade I can think of for Altay for 2023 is an RF jammer for FPV drones at the moment.

I'm more interested in things Altay lacks and will continue to lack in following iterations, stuff that can't be changed or updated. Like for example you can slap as much armor as you like on M60 but when hit, crew's survival rate is higher in a barebones Leo2a4 because M60 is still a generation older. For unmanned turret, we know that it is planned so I'm assuming they have a basic plan ready to implement it.

due to smooth bore guns’ inferior accuracy.

I think that might be the Brit in you talking lol. Difference between rifled and smoothbore guns re accuracy is almost negligible. There's no round without fin stabilization anyhow. Is there even a gun launched missile that can be fired from rifled guns?