Turkish vehicle manufacturer Otokar has unveiled its new ALTAY-AHT urban operations tank at the at the 13th International Defense Industry Fair (IDEF’17).

The ALTAY-AHT urban operations tank has been designed for Turkish military taking into account the experience of fighting in Syria and Iraq.

“In response to hybrid and asymmetrical threats and conditions where unconventional forces and methods are employed spreading more widely, we designed ALTAY-AHT Urban Operations Tank using our own resources that will meet future needs of Turkish Armed Forces and will have high export potential,” – said Otokar General Manager Serdar Gorguc.

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According to a company spokesperson that one of the key difference between new ALTAY-AHT Urban Operations Tank and the base’s version of ALTAY tank is that the tank is fitted with a Jammer against remote control IED attacks. The Gunshot Detection System can identify the direction of sniper threats, the Laser Warning System can identify the threats by laser guided anti-tank missiles, and laser range finders that measure distance.

The direction of the identified threat can be automatically smoked using the Soft Kill (Smart Smoke Curtain) The EOS, RCWS and tank turret can be automatically directed to the threat depending on the user’s preference.

The tank is fitted with a directional dozer blade that can be operated by the driver, and used for a variety of tasks such as preparing the defence lines, clearing the obstacles on the battlefield, and filling the tank trenches.

The ALTAY-AHT Urban Operations Tank equipped with Explosive Reactive Armour (ERA) and Bar Armour Systems are applied on the tank to enhance its survivability against guided and unguided ballistic missile attacks that pose great threat in 360-degrees for main battle tanks in hybrid and asymmetric combat conditions.

Situational awareness improved with the addition of Telescopic Elevated Observation System (EOS), YAMGÖZ system that enables 360-degrees awareness, and repositioning of remote control weapon stations (RCWS).

The ALTAY project was launched in 2009, and the main battle tank, with increased survivability, mobility and firing power, has delivered superior performance in challenging tests conducted in all climatic and terrain conditions for the last two years. The “Qualification Tests” conducted by the Undersecretariat of Defense Industry, and Land Forces Command on bases version of ALTAY tank, which has achieved very high accuracy in firing tests carried out for diverse scenarios in all kinds of weather conditions and distances, were completed in February 2017.