BMC General Manager Murat Yalçıntaş announced that two of the BMC Defence production ALTAY Main Battle Tanks, which they named “New ALTAY”, will be delivered to the Turkish Armed Forces on April 23, 2023, for testing purposes. At the press meeting, BMC General Manager Yalçıntaş said the tanks would be on field tests for approximately 1.5 or two years. He also stated that the company aims to start the mass production of New ALTAY with the Korean Power Group in 2025.
The company calls the tank “New Altay” to break the link with its designer company Otokar by emphasising the innovations and localisations added during the lost time. Mehmet Karaaslan, General Manager of BMC Defence, said, “The tank we have right now is not the old tank. This is entirely a “New ALTAY”. During this time, and we had the chance to localise many pieces. There have been many battles during this time, many lessons learnt from them, and many changes to the tank as a result.”On the other hand, Karaaslan stated that the ALTAY Tank was not the product of BMC as many people have made a great effort in the programme until this stage in the last 20 years. He also underlined that all IP rights of this tank belong to the Defence Industry Agency (SSB).Karaaslan explained why the power group was supplied by the Republic of Korea for ALTAY: “The production, design and testing of so many systems will take a lot of time. This is a six-seven year-long process. So, will the Turkish army be without tanks for that time? As a result, we found an interim solution using the Korean power group until new ones are approved.
In 2025, mass production of New ALTAYs will begin with the Korean Power Group, and those tanks will be delivered to the Turkish Armed Forces. Starting from the second half of 2026, the mass production of New ALTAY will continue with the power group produced by BMC POWER.”BMC Defence General Manager Mehmet Karaaslan emphasised that Germany did not impose an embargo only on the power group. He added, “Other subsystems would come from the same western country. Using some of the operations carried out by the Turkish Armed Forces as an excuse, they refused to give the item to Turkiye. Without those systems, the tank becomes unmanufacturable.”Localised parts and previously supplied countries are as follows:Helical Gearbox as speed reducer (Germany)Gunner 2nd Degree Sight System (Germany)Pallet (Republic of Korea)Turret Girth Gear(Republic of Korea)Rotor (Republic of Korea)Ammunition Racks (Germany)Periscopes (Germany)Fuel and Hydraulic Pumps (Germany)Mobile Camouflage System (Sweden)
