Türkiye tests indigenous transmission for Altay MBT
Türkiye's Altay MBT displayed during Exercise ‘EFES-2026'. (Janes/Nicholas Fiorenza)
Türkiye has begun testing the Altay main battle tank's (MBT's) indigenously developed transmission, a BMC representative told Janes on the penultimate day of Exercise ‘EFES 2026' held at the Doğanbey firing and exercise area in Izmir on 20 April-21 May.
Meanwhile, serial production of the initial batch of Altay T1 tanks is well underway with a South Korean powerpack - mating a Hyundai Doosan DV27K twin-turbocharged intercooled V12 diesel engine to an S&T Dynamics EST15K automatic transmission - and factory acceptance testing of the locally developed BMC Power BATU engine was completed in late 2025 according to a social media post from Turkish Turkish Presidency of Defence Industries (SSB) President Haluk Görgün. The BMC representative declined to give a timeline for further testing and production milestones.
Production of Altay was initially planned to use a EuroPowerPack configuration based on the MTU diesel and RENK transmission used in the Altay prototype, but this was scuppered by German export restrictions following Turkish operations during the Syrian Civil War.
The country signed a contract with BMC in November 2018 for the production of 250 Altay tanks for the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK), with Görgün subsequently announcing on 24 February 2025 that mass production deliveries of Altay had begun. He said 85 Altay tanks in the T1 configuration with the South Korean powerpack would be delivered by 2028 and that deliveries of 165 Altay in the T2 configuration with an indigenous Turkish engine would begin in 2028.
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