Turkish Altay tank's striking power to be ensured at expense of domestic means PHOTO

The striking power of Türkiye's Altay tank, one of the most important defence-industrial complex projects in the field of ground vehicles, will be ensured at the expense of domestic means.

Türkiye's Makine ve Kimya Endüstrisi (MKE) AŞ meets the needs of the Turkish Armed Forces and security forces with domestic and national resources, Anadolu reports.

MKE's achievements include the production of ammunition and weapons from 5.56 to 203 millimeters.

Domestic weapons production also utilises recycled scrap that is sent to specialised factories after melting, casting and forging processes.

The process of producing the 120 mm main armament systems of the Altay tank with a barrel length of 55 calibers also begins in a similar way.

The main armament system of the tank as a whole consists of about 400 main and auxiliary components.

After completing all laboratory and field tests, including pre-fire and firing trials, the 120 mm 55 calibre main armament system is sent to the Turkish BMC Arifiye campus.

Along with Altay armament samples, the Heavy Engineering Plant produces the M60 tank armament system, 155mm weapon systems used in Fırtına (Storm) and Panter (Panther) howitzers, 105mm howitzer armament systems, 60-, 81- and 120mm mortars.

Due to its armament system the Altay tank is capable of firing a full load of six APFSDS-T rounds in a single minute. The inside of the tank's barrel is chrome plated throughout. The tests showed that the minimum range of the chemical energy ammunition was 2,000 m and that of the kinetic energy armor-piercing projectiles was 3,000 m.

The survivability of the 6,600 mm barrel corresponds to 1,500 rounds fired. Safe service life of the barrel is not less than 1000 rounds.