Turkey Clears Indigenous Engine for Altay Main Battle Tank
Turkey has completed factory acceptance tests for the indigenous BATU engine developed for the Altay main battle tank, a senior defense official announced. This marks a key milestone in efforts to reduce reliance on foreign powerplants for its domestically built tank program.
The 1,500-horsepower BATU engine was developed by Turkish firm BMC POWER using national resources, and officials highlighted performance, durability, and operational capability as core achievements of the project.
Development of the engine began in 2018, overcoming early gaps in engineering infrastructure, testing facilities, and supply chain capabilities. With factory acceptance now complete, work continues on qualifying the domestic transmission to pair with the BATU unit.
Engine acceptance comes as Turkey’s serial production of Altay tanks advances at a new BMC facility outside Ankara. Initial deliveries of Altay tanks to Turkish forces used imported power packs while Turkey built up domestic systems capability.
The Altay main battle tank is a 65-ton class platform designed with NATO-compatible systems including a 120 mm main gun, advanced fire control, and active protection suite. Beyond propulsion, Turkey aims to fully localize components across the tank family.
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