South Korea to Help Turkey Build Tanks
20221030
South Korea will help Turkey build battle tanks. According to several media reports, after Germany refused to cooperate with Turkey on the Altay program, Ankara began strengthening cooperation with South Korea.
BMC, one of the largest commercial and military vehicle manufacturers, has signed a contract with South Korean companies Doosan and S&T Dynamics to supply the engine and transmission they needed to assemble the Altay tank, a Turkish modern main battle tank.
For a long time, Turkey, as a NATO member, used American M48 and M60 tanks, as well as German Leopard-1 and Leopard-2 tanks to meet its own military needs. But in the early 1990s Ankara realized that the country needed its own battle tank, which would meet modern requirements. It announced an internal tender, and Otokar was declared the winner. Turkey's Undersecretariat for Defense Industries (SSM, Savunma Sanayii Mustesarligi) signed a $400 million contract with the company to design the first national Turkish main battle tank, the Altay.
The contract was signed in the presence of then-Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, representatives of contractor companies, and the Minister of National Defense of the Republic of Korea. Seoul, represented by Hyundai Rotem, provided technical support for the project from the beginning. The future Turkish Altay MBT was based on the recently-introduced prototype Korean K2 Black Panther. The contract provided for the full transfer of the K2 technology to the Turks.
The Altay inherited some 60% of the technology from the K2. However, it has its own massive welded turret. The Altay gun is similar to the K2 gun (these guns are modelled on the German Rheinmetall Rh 120L/55), but has no automatic loader. The Altay's hull and turret protection are clearly more powerful, and the hull itself is lengthier.
The stumbling block in the creation of the Altay was the power unit. At first, the Turks wanted to take the German one, but it did not work. However, no domestically-made units have been created, so they had to use the Korean ones. For testing, they brought the Hyundai Doosan DV27K turbo-diesel engine and EST15K transmission, all made by S&T Dynamics.
In September 2022, Ismail Demir, president of Turkey's Defense Industries, confirmed that Turkey was testing Altay tanks equipped with Korean power units. Defense industry expert Anil Sahin said in an interview with Sputnik that importing from South Korea was the only possible option for Turkey to build a tank while lacking its own competencies.
"If we talk about Turkey, Germany still does not supply it with power units. The latter has imposed an embargo. Since the Altay tanks are similar to South Korea's K2 Black Panther tanks, the power group of these tanks fits the Altay tanks. And since Turkey has an urgent need, the power unit was procured from South Korea. The power unit is currently being integrated into the AItay... Until Turkey gets its own power unit, imports from South Korea are seen as the only way to go," the expert noted.
Alexei Leonkov, a Russian military expert, believes that Turkey has taken the optimal path, refining foreign weapons to meet its needs.
"Turkey is following the same path that it did with its combat aviation, modifying the American F-16 to suit its own needs. The Turks have wanted to create their own national tank for a very long time, as their existing German Leopards were in danger of major maintenance problems because of the Berlin embargo. Moreover, the German "wildcats" have failed to excel in the operations of the Turkish troops in Syria against the Kurds. The Kurds learned how to beat them, and Ankara did not want to lose its tank fleet. But it realized that its 'Leopards' are obsolete, and it needs new combat vehicles."
The Russian expert separately noted that Kiev was asking the Turks to be partners and allies. It tried to entice them with the Yanychar tank, based on the T-64 tank that was manufactured in Ukraine.
"Ankara did not fall for this 'trap'. Turkish specialists quickly realized that this was an old Soviet tank, albeit with an upgraded 'load'. At that time, the Yanychar had no time to take part in battles anywhere," Alexei Leonkov noted.
Originally, the Kharkov T-64 was an "advanced" tank, but very controversial from a technical point of view and picky in use. The Soviet Army did not like the T-64 much, which is why the reliable and "understandable" Ural T-72 was accepted "with flying colors."
"Cooperation with Korea gives the Turks hope that they will have their own main battle tank. Yes, the power unit - engine and transmission - will be Korean, but the rest of the equipment the Turks will get otherwise or make themselves. Fortunately, that same company Aselsan specializes in electronics, and the Altay tank will receive its own fire control system, as well as devices for firing at night. That is, the Turks have an option to make the tank simpler, but it will look much more advantageous than the South Korean 'Black Panther'. Why? A tank overloaded with electronics requires a highly skilled crew, capable of making field repairs for all these electronics. And the Turks should have a machine designed for simple tank drivers, and this simplicity will play a positive role for the Altai."
© Sputnik
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