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Main battle tank

Turkey

BMC Defense

Altay

Turkey's first indigenously developed main battle tank, initially designed with South Korean partner Hyundai Rotem before BMC took over serial production. Early production batches use a South Korean-derived diesel powerpack, with a domestic engine planned for later series.

In service since 2023 · 1 operator countries

Compiled from public sources ·primary reference ↗ ·last verified 2026-07-01

km/h

450

km range

hp/t

120

mm gun

65,000

Pricing: Unit cost not publicly disclosed

Procurement snapshot

Availability & export

Türkiye export-licensed

SSB-administered; growing export programme, some Western sub-component dependencies.

Channel: Direct commercial / G2G

Fielded & proven

Limited · 1 operator

In service since 2023. Status: active · ~30 built.

Lifecycle cost (est.)

No public unit price to model from.

Interoperability

120 mm NATO smoothbore

Derived guidance from public data, export regime by country of origin, lifecycle from the GAO ~30% acquisition rule. Verify eligibility, pricing and offsets with the manufacturer and your acquisition authority.

Compatible munitions & weapons

Publicly reported weapons the Altay can carry. Linked items have a full spec page.

DM53 APFSDS

DM11 programmable HE

DM12 HEAT-MP

Full specifications

Performance

Speed, range, altitude and engagement capability.

Max speed Maximum level speed. For aircraft this is at optimal altitude; for ground vehicles, top road speed. Higher means faster response and better kinematic performance.: 70 km/h

Stronger than 74% of main battle tanks
Range Maximum distance: ferry range for aircraft, operational range for vehicles, maximum engagement distance for missiles. Higher means more standoff or persistence.: 450 km

Stronger than 31% of main battle tanks
Power-to-weight Engine power per tonne of vehicle weight. Higher means better acceleration and cross-country mobility.: 24 hp/t

Stronger than 69% of main battle tanks

Firepower

Armament, payload and guidance.

Main armament Primary weapon: main gun, cannon or missile type.: 120 mm smoothbore (autoloaded)
Secondary armament Additional weapons: coaxial MG, remote weapon station, gun pods.: 12.7 mm + 7.62 mm remote weapon stations
Caliber Bore diameter of the main gun or rifle. Larger throws heavier projectiles; not simply better, ammunition commonality matters.: 120 mm
Ammunition Rounds carried (main gun) or standard magazine capacity.: 40

Stronger than 42% of main battle tanks

Protection

Armor, countermeasures and survivability.

Armor Armor technology: composite, modular, ERA-fitted, uranium-ceramic. Exact compositions are classified.: Modular composite armor
Active protection Hard-kill APS (Trophy, Arena, Afganit) intercepts incoming projectiles before impact.: Akkor (domestic APS, in integration)
Reactive armor Explosive reactive armor (ERA) blocks that disrupt shaped-charge jets.: No
Countermeasures Self-protection: chaff, flares, DIRCM, towed decoys, smoke dischargers, jammers.: smoke grenade launchers
NBC protection Sealed crew compartment with overpressure filtration for nuclear/biological/chemical environments.: Yes

Physical

Dimensions, weight and crew.

Length Overall length including gun/probe where applicable.: 10.3 m
Width Overall width, matters for rail/road transport of vehicles.: 3.75 m
Height Overall height. Lower profile is harder to spot and hit for ground vehicles.: 2.27 m
Combat weight Fully loaded weight. Lighter eases transport and bridging limits; heavier often means more armor.: 65,000 kg
Crew Personnel required to operate. Fewer reduces exposure; autoloaders trade a loader for mechanical complexity.: 4

Propulsion

Engine, power and fuel.

Engine Powerplant model and type.: Diesel powerpack (initial batches South Korean-derived)
Engine power Engine output power. Higher moves more weight faster.: 1,500 hp

Stronger than 84% of main battle tanks
Propulsion type Turbofan, turboshaft, diesel, gas turbine, solid-fuel rocket, ramjet…: Diesel

Sensors & avionics

Radar, sensor suite and datalinks.

Sensors IRST, EO/IR turrets, laser designators, sniper pods, thermal sights.: Volkan-2 fire control system, panoramic commander sight
Thermal imaging Thermal sights for night and obscured-visibility operations.: Yes

Munition

Round type, penetration, velocity and projectile data.

Caliber Bore diameter the round is fired from.: 120 mm

Program

Cost, production scale and operators.

Units built Total production run. Higher means proven manufacturing, mature logistics and spares availability.: 30

Stronger than 16% of main battle tanks
Operator countries Number of countries operating the system. More operators means broader support ecosystem.: 1

Stronger than 24% of main battle tanks

Specifications compiled from public BMC Defense and reference sources ↗. Published defense figures are approximations, treat comparisons as directional. Last verified 2026-07-01.

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