S.Korean Firm to Supply Transmission for Turkey's Altay Tank Engines

South Korea’s SNT Heavy Industries will supply transmissions for the engines to be used on Turkey’s domestic Altay main battle tank (MBT).

Altay’s development started in 2007 but it hit a roadblock after Germany’s MTU refused to sell 1,500 horsepower diesel engines. The German arms embargo resulted from Turkey’s operation in northern Syria that targeted both Daesh terrorists and the PKK group and its Syrian branch, the YPG.

BMC said May last year that it inked a contract with two South Korean companies -- Doosan Infracore and S&T Dynamics -- for the engine and transmission.

SNT Heavy Industries has now agreed to supply Altay producer BMC with a 1,500-horsepower automatic transmission. This export deal includes $74.9 million of supply until 2027 and has an option for further sourcing priced at $141 million between 2028 and 2030.

The deal was signed after a test evaluation, including an endurance driving test last year, as part of which it had to complete a night-based driving of about 200km a day even in the local rough terrain and environment.

SNT Heavy Industries said the transmission could perfectly replace the German parts.

Homegrown 1,500-horsepower engine, BATU, is projected to power various armored vehicles and tanks, potentially including the Altay.

Altay Specifications

The Altay tank is made of composite material and contains a new generation armor type.

The firing range of the tank is 8km. With a crew of four (tank commander, gunner, loader, driver), the tank weighs 65 tons. Designed with superior maneuverability thanks to its suspension system, Altay also includes other weapons such as a 12.7 mm heavy machine gun and defense giant Aselsan-made Stabilized Advanced Remote Weapon Platform (SARP).

The Altay will also bear the domestic Active Protection System (AKKOR) developed by Aselsan, one of the vital protection systems for tanks.

In addition to tank armors, active protection systems are also of great importance against anti-tank weapons. AKKOR creates a full 360-degree protection shield. It will detect incoming rocket or anti-tank missiles in a very short time with its high-tech radar.

With the help of the sensors on it, the physical destruction ammunition to be directed can explode when it is closest to the approaching anti-tank threat and neutralize it.