The Diplomat is reporting that Pakistan may be interested in purchasing the new Turkish Altay MBT. The article notes that the head of Turkey’s defense procurement agency, the Under-secretariat for Defense Industries, Ismail Demir announced earlier this month during a testimony in parliament that Pakistan’s military is interested in procuring the Altay. Demir is quoted as saying “Including Pakistan and the Gulf countries, we can say that countries that we have good relations with are showing a large interest in the tank. Representatives of some countries are being invited to the ongoing firing tests.” The article notes that Pakistan has not officially expressed interest in the procurement of the Altay, although in January 2015, representatives of Pakistan’s defense industry said that they are considering procuring the Altay’s third generation thermal imagining sight for the Al-Khalid MBT, jointly developed by Pakistan and China.
Pakistan interested in Turkish Altay MBT?
A century of the tank: Mark 1 vs Altay
Turkish defense contractor Otokar has published a 12 page advertising supplement titled “A century of the tank: Mark 1 vs Altay.” The article contrasts the Mark 1 tank of a 100 years ago with Otokar’s new Altay main battle tank. The piece includes a good deal of information about he Altay, including a nice cutaway picture of the vehicle. The article also includes an essay on the Future of the tank provided by Bovington Tank Museum curator David Willey. At the end of the piece, David Fletcher of the tank museum is thanked, it’s fair to assume he provided much of the information regarding the Mark 1.
A PDF of the article may be downloaded here. Also, it can be viewed in an Imgur gallery here.
Video: Otokar Altay main battle tank
Jane’s has released a video of Christopher Foss describing the final prototype of the Turkish Otokar Altay main battle tank at the IDEF 2015 conference.
Turkish firm to produce tank engine
Defense News is reporting that a privately owned Turkish engine maker has signed a contract to produce an engine for the Turkish Altay tank. TUMOSAN’s Power Group Development program signed the US $206.35 million contract on March 17 with the country’s procurement office, the Undersecretariat for Defense Industries (SSM). The program involves the indigenous design, development, prototype production, testing and qualification of an engine for the Altay. TUMOSAN also says it will design and develop a transmission for the tank and produce critical parts for its engine, including the diesel pump, electronic control unit and injector. TUMOSAN set a goal of 54 months for the project. This announcement follows news from earlier this month that Turkey’s months-long negotiations with Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries for joint development and production of an engine for the Altay have failed largely due to the Japanese government’s near total ban on arms exports. Full article here.
Tank and AFV News 