Altay AHT - Urban Operation Specialist

lLiberté · August 7, 2023, 2:18pm

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Altay

Background

Altay is a third-generation Turkish main battle tank based on South Korean K2 Black Panther. Design and development of the tank was undertaken by Otokar with assistance and technology transfer from Hyundai Rotem. Project started in 2008 with agreement between Otokar and Hyundai Rotem for development, assistance, and technology transfer for a main battle tank to be produced in Turkey. After approximately 10 years of design and development, Otokar submitted their final offer for serial production, subsequently refused by Undersecretariat of Defence Industry. Within the same year, BMC awarded with contract for mass production of Altay.

Design and Development

Altay is product of The National Tank Production Project (MİTÜP) which was initiated in late 1990s to establish independent tank production and maintenance capabilities also acquire know-how for “National Tank”. Undersecretariat for Defense Industries approached Otokar as local partner, and an agreement signed between them in 2007. Otokar quickly set out to seek help from experienced foreign partner for design and development. In 2008 Otokar and South Korean firm Hyundai Rotem reached an agreement in 2008 and development started.

Otokar during Phase-I (Design and Prototype Production) produced five prototypes with ASELSAN electronic sub-systems, ROKETSAN armor package and MKE tank gun. Otokar also produced private venture prototype. In 2012, first two prototypes FTR and MTR rolled out from production facility and revealed to public in Sakarya. In 2015 two more prototypes, PV1 and PV2, produced for extensive mobility, firing and weather tests, which shows satisfactory results. Sometimes between 2012 and 2015, BHT prototype was produced and used in ballistic tests. In 2017, Otokar showcased last two of their Altay prototypes in 2017 IDEF defense fair, Altay AMT and Altay AHT. AHT was based on PV2 prototype and was pinnacle of Otokar’s design. AHT was produced with the experiences gained from Operation Euphrates Shield to create a tank fitting in urban and close-quarter engagements. AHT supports heavier armor, a dozer blade and sub-system which aims to increase overall survivability and situational awareness of the tank. Otokar’s prototypes are as follows:

● MTR, Mobility Test Rig
● FTR, Firing Test Rig
● BH&T, Ballistic Hull, and Turret
● PV1&2, Prototype Vehicle ⁽ˀ⁾

In 2010, Otokar signed contract with MTU and RENK for EuroPowerPack for 5 units. Further engine acquisition block by German arms embargo on Turkey. With BMC’s acquisition of program, Otokar handed over 4 remaining prototypes, barring AHT, to BMC. BMC upgraded PV1 based prototype with ASELSAN’s AKKOR APS and revealed it alongside Leopard 2A4 mated with FTR turret during the visit of Minister of National Defense, in 2021. Withing same year at IDEF 2021 both vehicles were presented to public eye.

Altay AHT (IDEF 2017 Urban Warfare Prototype)

Altay AHT is the Urban-Warfare prototype of Altay and one of the last prototypes ever developed by Otokar. Design mainly revolves around increasing protection against unconventional threats as well as conventional ones, and increasing situational awareness. AHT is designed with the experiences gained from urban operations of Operation Euphrates Shield. Altay AHT is equipped with a dozer blade, additional armor to increase protection against both CE and KE threats with Reactive and Passive elements, surveillance and optic system and additional smoke launchers. AHT was first revealed in IDEF 2017 by Otokar. It was private venture of Otokar and did not accepted into service as BMC won the tender for serial production.

Firepower

Altay’s main armament is MKE 120mm L/55 smoothbore cannon which is based on Hyundai WIA CN08. MKE tailored WIA’s design to meets requirements of Altay Project. Main difference between MKE’s and Hyundai’s gun design is that MKE’s design does not have mechanism for autoloader unlike WIA’s design. MKE 120mm L/55 is compatible with all NATO standard 120mm rounds. AHT’s secondary armament consists of co-axial 7.62mm machine-gun and 12.7mm heavy machine-gun on KESKİN remote controlled weapon system. Fire control system is ASELSAN’s state-of-art VOLKAN-II New Generation Fire Control System (then known as TAKS). It was specifically designed for Altay Project and also integrated into Leopard 2A4NG prototype.

MKE 120mm L/55 Smoothbore Cannon Firing Test

MKE 120mm L/55 Smoothbore Cannon In MKE Booth

KESKİN Remote Controlled Weapon Station

KESKİN is a compact, lightweight and modular, remotely operated stabilised weapon platform. KESKİN offers superb situational awareness on 360° platform with thermal and night sights and provides high firepower with variety of machine-guns ranging from 14.5mm, 12.7mm, 7.6mm and 40mm automatic grenade launcher depending on operational needs.

Main Features
• Laser Range Finder
• Day and Night Imaging
• Dual-Axis Stabilization
• Shoot-On-the-Move Capability for Stationary and Moving Targets

Mobility

AHT is powered by EuroPowerPack which consists of MTU MT883 KA-501 Diesel Engine with 1500 horsepower coupled with RENK HSWL 295TM transmission system. EuroPowerPack gives AHT excellent top speed of 70 km/h, considering weight of additional armor, AHW would have lesser power-to-weight ration than 27 hp/t. Although Otokar and MTU signed a contract for proven EuroPowerPack in 2010, German Federal Arms Embargo against Turkey prohibit anymore sales to Turkey. Only five units delivered to Otokar four of which used on their prototype. Fate of the fifth units is currently unknown, but thought to be handed over to SSB alongside their prototypes.

Altay's EuroPowerPack

https://i.imgur.com/hGfJDHw.jpg

Protection

Armor package of Altay Project is based on K2 Black Panther’s KSAP. Armor package is modified and developed by ROKETSAN with Boron Carbide elements to meets specifics of Altay Project. It is said to offer better ballistic protection than the original armor package though further information about protection levels is classified. Armor tests were done with prototype designated as BH&T, Ballistic Hull and Turret, and presumed destroyed during tests, there are no photographs of this armor test rig.

On top of existing armor package, AHT received additional armor. AHT received additional Composite/Passive and Reactive armor plates, slat armor on back of the hull and turret. On top of ROKETSAN’s hybrid reactive armor, frontal arc received passive armor and ERA on sides of both turret and hull. With all the additional armor, AHT offers higher protection than base model prototypes.

Original Source of Photo (In Turkish)

Altay AHT sports additional 8 smoke grandes launchers on top of existing 16 launchers which brings total number to 24. Added launchers works as part of Soft-Kill APS

Specifications of KSAP

Armor Scheme

Otokar’s Altay Brochure

Spoiler

Specifications

Crew: 4
Dimensions and Weight
- Mass: +55 Tons
- Length: 7.7 m
- Width: 3.6 m
- Height: 2.5 m
Armament
- Main Armament: MKE 120mm L/55 Smoothbore Cannon
- Secondary Armament:
  • Co-Axial FN MAG 7.62mm Machine Gun
  • KESKIN Remotely Controlled Weapon Station Mounted M2HB 12.7mm Machine Gun
- Ammunition Capacity
  ∙ 40 Tank Rounds
  ∙ 10,000 7.62mm Co-Axial Machine-Gun
  ∙ 3,200 12.7mm Heavy Machine-Gun Rounds ˀ
Mobility
- Engine: MTU MT883 KA-501, Diesel Engine 1500 Horsepower
- Transmission: ENK HSWL 295TM Automatic Transmission, 5 Forward, 3 Reverse
- Suspension: In-Arm
- Maximum Speed: 70 km/h
- Power to Weight: 27.2 hp/t
Protection
- Armor:
- ROKETSAN Boron Carbide Armor Based on KSAP
- Hybrid Armor Package
  ∙ Reactive Armor
  ∙ Passive Armor
  ∙ Slat Armor
- Active/Passive Protection System: Multispectral Smoke System
- Smoke Grenades: 24x
Accessories
- Night Sight
  ∙ Gunner
  ∙ Commander
  ∙ Driver
- Thermal Sight
  ∙ Gunner
  ∙ Commander
  ∙ Driver
- CITV
- Laser Range Finder
- Laser Warning Receiver
- See-Before-Seen Capability
- Telescopic Periscope System
- 360° Close Range Surveillance System
- Hunter-Killer Capacity (Commander’s Override)

Implementation to War Thunder

All of the Altay variants/models should be reserved for future Turkish Tech Tree. Altay AHT with its superior protection values and lethal firepower would be perfect end-of-the-line vehicle for M60 Line due to similarities of doctrinal use. BR-wise I would say it would fit somewhere around somewhere between 11.7 to 12.0 Battle Rating.

Additional Photos

Spoiler