First Altay Delivered to the Land Forces
The first delivery of the ALTAY main battle tank took place on October 28 in Ankara, during a ceremony held simultaneously with the opening of BMC's new production facility. The ceremony was attended by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, while BMC Chairman Fuat Tosyalı announced that mass production with the domestic BATU power group would begin by the end of 2026.
The first delivery of the ALTAY main battle tank took place on October 28 in Ankara, during a ceremony held simultaneously with the opening of BMC's "Tank and New Generation Armored Vehicles Production Facility." The ceremony was attended by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan; the delivery certificate was presented to the Land Forces Command by Defense Industry President Haluk Görgün.
BMC Chairman Fuat Tosyalı provided information on the next phase of the program, announcing that mass production with the domestically designed and produced BATU power group would begin by the end of 2026. Tosyalı emphasized that subsystems for which export licenses could not be obtained were replaced with domestic equivalents under the "New ALTAY" framework.
In the background of the project, there is the serial production contract dated 2018 following the development process, the test-acceptance process initiated in 2023 with the delivery of two prototypes to the Turkish Armed Forces, and the use of a Korean-made power package in the first phase to avoid delaying the schedule. According to information provided by the company, the Turkish Armed Forces has an order for 250 units of ALTAY; the new campus in Ankara aims to continue deliveries in a planned manner by bringing production, testing, and engineering units under one roof. The planning foresees an annual production capacity of 96 units.
With the first delivery, the field process for ALTAY has officially begun. The transition to mass production with the BATU power group by the end of 2026 stands out as a milestone that reduces supply constraints and expands the export vision.
Source: Demir Çelik Store