- Yes
- No
Background
Tulpar is a tracked multi-purpose platform designed and produced by Otokar. Platform was designed alongside Altay Main Battle Tank to allow infantry formations to support Altay in safety. Since Altay project changed hands, Tulpar’s future is not certain within Turkish Armed Forces yet it is crown-jewel piece of Otokar in defence fairs. It has been showcased regularly in defence fairs with variety of different armament and turret option to fulfil wide range of operational needs.
Tulpar comes in two main variants; Tulpar Modular Armored Tracked Vehicle and Tulpar-S Amphibious Armored Tracked Vehicle. Tulpar Modular Armored Tracked Vehicle offers higher payload and variety of different armament options; while Tulpar-S offers amphibious capability and mission specific armament options. Tulpar Modular Armored Tracked Vehicle has seen in three configurations: Medium/Light Tank, Heavy Infantry Fighting Vehicle and Armored Personnel Carrier, and Tulpar-S in two configurations: Weapon Carrier Vehicle and rmored Personnel Carrier.
Thanks to its modularity, platform can be configured to carry out variety of duties such as:
- Armored Recovery and Recovery Vehicle
- Armored Medical Evacuation Vehicle
- Heavy Infantry Fighting Vehicle
- Command and Control Vehicle
- Self-Propelled Mortar Carrier
- Armored Personal Carrier
- Reconnaissance Vehicle
- Air Defence Vehicle
- Medium Tank
- Light Tank
Tulpar Heavy Infantry Fighting Vehicle (SAMSON Mk.II)
Tulpar Heavy Infantry Fighting Vehicle was first revealed in IDEF’13 as an Otokar’s private venture for next generation infantry vehicle. Tulpar was designed alongside Altay Main Battle Tank to augment armored formations with infantry units in battlefield environment. Currently, there is no formal acquisition of the vehicle by Turkish Armed Forces but Kazakhstan shows great interest in vehicle, and has been testing it extensively albeit with a different turret system.
Tulpar Heavy Infantry Fighting Vehicle is designed and developed by Turkish defense firm Otokar and it was first revealed in IDEF’13. Tulpar designed alongside Altay Main Battle Tank to augment armored formations with infantry units in battlefield environment. Tulpar is designed to keep up with Altay in rough terrain and protects its crew from incoming threats. It stays as Otokar’s private venture and its future in Turkish Armed Forces is still a question, though Kazakhstan shows greats interest and has been testing it extensively for quite some time.
Kazakhstan has been testing Tulpar with various turret systems including Otokar’s own MIZRAK, ASELSAN’s Nefer, KBP’s 2K23/Bakhcha-U and Rafael’s SAMSON Mk.II. Focus will on Tulpar with SAMSON Mk.II. It should be noted that Kazakhstan have not decided on whether they will be adopting Tulpar or not, another note is that SAMSON Mk.II has been used by Otokar for its export focused products.
General Specifications
Firepower
Tulpar Infantry Fighting Vehicles offers wide array of armament options form auto-cannons to conventional tank guns. This specific version of Tulpar is fitted with Rafael’s SAMSON Mk.II Unmanned Turret System. SAMSON Mk.II armament consists of Mk44 Bushmaster II 30mm Auto-Cannon, 7.62mm Co-Axial Machine-Gun and SPIKE Fire-and-Forget Anti-Tank Guided Missile.
SAMSON Mk.II Turret System
SAMSON Mk.II is Rafael’s main export solution infantry fighting vehicles. SAMSON Mk.II’s armament consists of Mk44 Bushmaster II 30mm Auto-Cannon coupled with 7.62mm Co-Axial Machine-Gun and SPIKE Fire-and-Forget Anti-Tank Guided Missile. SAMSON Mk.II offers Thermal and Night Imagers for Gunner and Commander via Commander’s Independent Thermal Viewer (CITV). Turret also has novelty features such as Automatic Target Tracking System, Laser Range Finder and Dual-Axis Stabilisation.
Specifications
- Dimensions
- Length: ?
- Width: ?
- Height: ?
- Weight: 1500 kg
- Armor:
∙ Base STANAG 4569 Level I
∙ Up to STANAG 4569 Level IV
- Armament
- Main Armament: Mk44 Bushmaster II 30mm Dual-Feed Autocannon
- Ready-to-Fire Ammunition: 200 Ready-to-Fire 30mm Autocannon Rounds
- Total Ammunition: ? Total 30mm Autocannon Rounds
- ATGM:
∙ SPIKE-LR
∙ SPIKE-LR II - Ready-to-Fire ATGM: 2
- Total ATGM: ?
- Co-Axial Machine-Gun: 7.62mm Machine-Gun
- Ready-to-Fire Co-Axial Machine-Gun Ammunition: 500 Ready-to-Fire 7.62mm Machinegun Rounds
- Total Co-Axial Machine-Gun Ammunition: ? 7.62mm Machine-Gun Rounds
- Smoke Grenades: 8x
- Features
- Night Vision
- Thermal Imager
- CCD Day Camera
- Laser Rangefinder
- Dual-Axis Stabilization
- Automatic Target Tracking
- Hunter-Killer Capacity (Commander’s Override)
Bushmaster Mk.II
Specifications
- Dimensions
- Length: 3405mm
- Width: 340mm
- Height: 392mm
- Weight: 160kg
- Operational Details
- Shell: 30x173mm, NATO Standard
- Caliber: 30mm
- Rate of Fire:
- Single Shot
- 100 rpm
- 200 rpm
- Feed System: Dual-Feed
- Muzzle Velocity: 1080 m/s
SPIKE-LR II
- Dimensions and Weight
- Missile Length: 1200 mm
- Missile Diameter: 170 mm
- Missile Weight: 12.7 kg
- Operational Details
- Missile Caliber: 170mm
- Maximum Range: 5500 m
- Guidance System
∙Electro Optical CCD
∙IR
∙Dual CCD/IIR - Firing Mode:
∙Fire & Forget
∙Fire & Update - Attack Modes:
∙Direct Attack
∙Top Attack
- Warhead
- Type: Tandem Charge HEAT
- Penetration: Not Less Than 900mm RHA Behind ERA
Mobility
Tulpar Modular Armored Tracked Vehicle platform can be powered by power pack ranging from 700hp to 1100hp engines depending on weight class and operational needs. This specific version is powered by 720 horsepower Caterpillar CT13 Diese Engine coupled with unspecified Allison 4000-Series 7-Speed Automatic Transmission. This superb power pack offers 70 km/h with power-to-weight ratio between 18 - 25 hp/t. Although there is no official figure for this specific vehicle, it is likely weighing around 29,5 tons which gives us power-to-weight ratio of excellent 24.4 hp/t.
Protection
Tulpar Modular Armored Tracked Vehicle is designed with modular armor structure to allow Tulpar to meet different mission specific needs. Thanks to its modular structure, armor modules can be fixed/replaced with ease, and protection levels can be changed to allow Tulpar to fit operational requirements. As Tulpar is developed with personnel safety in mind, it offers excellent protection against variety of threats such as; IEDs, Mines, CBRN as well as Chemical and Kinetic munitions. Tulpar’s protection is qualified in terms of both structural integrity and occupant safety per STANAG 4569. Base protection of Tulpar is STANAG 4569 Level III, thanks to its modular structure protection levels can be increased to Level IV and Level V to meet operational requirements.
Specifications
- Crew: 3
∙ Commander
∙ Gunner
∙ Driver
∙ 9 Dismount - Dimensions and Weight
- Mass: 29.5 Tons Approximately
- Length: 7.2m
- Width: 3.4m
- Height: 2.6m
- Armament
- Main Armament: Mk44 Bushmaster II 30mm Dual-Feed Auto-Cannon
- Secondary Armament:
∙ Co-Axial 7.62mm Machine-Gun - Ammunition Capacity
∙ 200 Read-to-Fire 30mm Auto-Cannon Rounds
∙ ? Additional 30mm Auto-Cannon Rounds
∙ 500 Read-to-Fire 7.62mm Co-Axial Machine-Gun Rounds
∙ ? Additional 7.62mm Co-Axial Machine-Gun Rounds - Anti-Tank Guided Missile:
∙ SPIKE-LR
∙ SPIKE-LR II - Ready-to-Fire ATGM: 2
- Total ATGM: ?
- Mobility
- Engine: Caterpillar CT13 Diesel Engine, 720 Horsepower
- Transmission: Unspecified Allison 4000-Series Automatic Transmission, 6 Forward, 1 Reverse
- Suspension: Torsion Bar
- Maximum Speed: 70 km/h
- Power to Weight: 24.4 hp/t
- Protection
- Hull Armor:
∙ Base: STANAG 4569 Level III
∙ Up to: STANAG 4569 Level V - Turret Armor:
∙ Base: STANAG 4569 Level I
∙ Up to: STANAG 4569 Level IV - Active/Passive Protection System: None
- Smoke Grenades: 8x
- Hull Armor:
- Accessories
- Night Sight
∙ Driver
∙ Gunner
∙ Commander - Thermal Sight
∙ Driver
∙ Gunner
∙ Commander - Laser Range Finder
- Automatic Target Tracking
- 360° Close Range Surveillance System
- Hunter-Killer Capacity (Commander’s Override)
- Night Sight
Implementation to War Thunder
Tulpar Modular Armored Tracked Vehicle is a truly unique vehicle option for future Turkish Ground Forces Tech Tree. Platform offers variety of different vehicles to fulfil different roles in the Tech Tree, thus it should be reserved for Turkish Ground Forces Tech Tree. This specific Infantry Fighting Vehicle variant would offer similar play style to Hungarian KF41, depending on the SPKIE version, Tulpar would fit between 9.0 - 10.0 Battle Rating at Rank VI or VII as part of Kazakhstan Sub-Branch or Event/Premium.
Additional Photos
Spoiler
https://i.imgur.com/eipM1KF.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/uSdTYVl.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/sOqtoWa.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/59VmMQJ.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/59VmMQJ.jpg
During Kazakhstan Field Tests
https://i.imgur.com/EYN1ZEf.png
https://i.imgur.com/0AA3LU2.png
https://i.imgur.com/7VLOTgW.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/2e82lYu.png
https://i.imgur.com/q02tMFt.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/zYSDqQJ.png
Videos
Tulpar Infantry Fighting Vehicle Firing and Mobility Tests - I
Tulpar Infantry Fighting Vehicle Firing and Mobility Tests - II
Sources
Spoiler
Otokar Tulpar - Wikipedia
https://www.army-technology.com/projects/tulpar-infantry-fighting-vehicle/
A new turret with guided anti-tank missiles for OTOKAR TULPAR | English Defence News
https://defense.otokar.com.tr/OtokarSavunma/media/Otokar-Savunma/arac-brosur/TULPAR-EN-BR-2021-(AP02EG-21)-onizleme.pdf
https://www.armyrecognition.com/idef_2013_news_coverage_report_pictures_video/otokar_presents_tulpar_new_generation_of_tracked_armoured_vehicle_at_idef_2013_0805131.html
Eurosatory 2022: Otokar showcases its Tulpar vehicle in 2 variants
https://www.savunmahaber.com/en/otokar-participates-eurosatory-2022-with-6-vehicles/
https://militaryleak.com/2021/07/22/kazakhstan-ministry-of-defense-tests-turkish-tulpar-infantry-fighting-vehicle/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-FbJFpcpwM - Tulpar IFV I Armor Stanag Level III - IV - V I IFV Configuration has 720 Horsepower Engine
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8rfMnutRYo -03:00 Day, Night and Thermal Camera for Driver IFV Variant CAT & Allison Power Pack with 720hp Engine, Same Powerpack used on Arma 8x8 I Modular Armor, 07:20 Hunter-Killer/Commander’s Override, 08:50 Additional 200-250 Ammunition Can be stored on the Hull
Army Guide
4000 Series - Transmission
https://web.archive.org/web/20091207070854/http://www.eurospike.com/lr.html
https://www.gd-ots.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Samson-Mk-II-Remote-Weapon-Station.pdf
https://www.rafael.co.il/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Samson-Family-.pdf
https://www.rafael.co.il/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Spike-LR2.pdf
https://www.military-today.com/missiles/spike_lr.htm
https://www.military-today.com/missiles/spike_lr2.htm
Rafael SAMSON Mk.II Brochure
Rafael SPIKE Brochure