Minister of National Defense Hulusi Akar, along with Chief of General Staff Gen. Yaşar Güler, Land Forces Commander General Ümit Dündar and Deputy Minister of National Defense Muhsin Dere, made examinations at the 1 Main Maintenance Factory Directorate in Sakarya.
Minister Akar, who also visited the Ministry of National Defense Arifiye Campus BMC Plant, was welcomed by BMC Chairman Ethem Sancak, BMC Defense Board Chairman Talip Öztürk and company officials.
Receiving a briefing on the activities, Minister Akar emphasized that eliminating foreign dependency, especially in the defense industry, is of vital importance. The "Leopard 2A4 tank with Altay turret", which is being developed by BMC, came to the fore for the first time at the Ceremony of the Delivery of the New Generation Three Storm Howitzer to the TSK, attended by the Minister of National Defense Hulusi Akar. Altay Main Battle Tank, which will be mass produced under BMC main contractor, was also present at the transition ceremony.
Minister Akar, who received information about the 400-hp Vuran, 600-hp Azra and 1000-hp Utku engines used in the Storm howitzer, participated in engine tests, and made the 6th body source of the new generation Storm howitzer, which is still in production.
Altay Main Battle Tank
One of the armored vehicles that made the transition at the ceremony was the Altay AMT. In the main battle tank, which is planned to be produced in a limited number in 2021, uncertainties related to the full-scale mass production continue.
In his speech at the TBMM Plan and Budget Committee on 27 November 2020, Vice President Fuat Oktay reminded that the serial production contract for the Altay tank was signed between the Defense Industry Presidency and the BMC firm on 9 November 2018; He stated that sub-system supply contracts were signed between BMC and German companies MTU and RENK for the supply of the power group, engine and transmission. In the continuation of Oktay's statement, “The application has been made for the purpose of obtaining approval for the export licenses of the German authorities for government permits. The German authorities are still trying to get a response to these permits. " he said.
Turkish Presidency Defense Industry President Prof. Dr. İsmail Demir emphasized that the production of 5 Altay tanks was started with the previously supplied engines and that the production of the Altay main battle tank was started in the interview he gave to the M6 Magazine and said, “We can not say 6 for it because you will put all the spare engines in the tank, but it is only 4 or It could be 5, something like that started. One might ask, why wasn't something like that started before. If you are going to start establishing a production facility now, you have to determine a process so that I have produced 5 units and waited for 3 years. " he had made statements.
With regard to İsmail Demir Altay AMT engine in May 2020: “We can say that work with a country has reached a very good point, signatures have been made. We have B and C plans for the engine. ” had made statements. Demir also stated that the studies within the electric motor continue as an alternative to the current supply plans in R&D studies to be used in the Altay tank.
The ALTAY Project started as the main contractor of OTOKAR, which was commissioned by the Presidency Defense Industry Directorate (SSB) for prototype production. The subsequent mass production tender was won by BMC and the mass production process is under the main contractor of BMC.
Leopard 2A4 tank with Altay turret
After the signing ceremony in which the New Generation Three Storm Howitzer was delivered to the Turkish Armed Forces, Minister Akar and Commanders watched the demonstration of the driving and capabilities of armored vehicles produced by BMC. While the main battle tank developed by BMC with the Altay tower integration on the Leopard 2A4 tank, the protocol was introduced with the expression "Leopard 2A4 tank with Altay turret". Leopard 2A4s in the inventory of the TSK were supplied second hand from Germany with two packages of 2005 and 298 units after 56. As part of the efforts to increase the capabilities of Leopard 2A4 main battle tanks in accordance with today's modern combat conditions, the modernization activities are officially carried out by ASELSAN and ROKETSAN. The said Leopard 2A4 with Altai tower was developed as a result of the company initiative, with the aim of displaying talent. However, it is unknown whether the modernization package will be implemented in the future.
Leopard 2NG Modernization
Aselsan developed the Leopard 2NG package for Leopard 4A2 tanks and produced the first prototype in 2011. Aselsan was using a ready-made protection package supplied from abroad in its Leopard 2 NG project. However, the project was not implemented.
Source: defenceturk
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