If you've been to EuroSatory 2018, you might not have missed the imposing Turkish Altay main battle tank at the entrance to the main hall.
The new armored vehicle, built with the assistance of South Korea, is positioned in the range of heavy battle tanks (65 tonnes) with performances comparable to that of modernized Western tanks, such as the Leopard 2A7, the Abrams M1A2, or the Leclerc Scorpion, although with greater room for improvement. Thus, if tranches 1 (40 units) and 2 (210 units) will be equipped with a classic turret, and increasingly efficient protective equipment, tranche 3, i.e. 250 units ordered by the Turkish army, will be equipped with an unmanned automated turret, like the T-14 Army Russian.
Turkey has now found its first export customer for its flagship, with Qatar,which has just formalized an order for 100 units, of which 40 examples will be of the tranche 1 standard, that is to say equipped with a 1500 hp MTU engine and not a 1.800 hp Turkish engine.
Other potential customers who have expressed interest in the new tank include Saudi Arabia and Azerbaijan. Pakistan seemed interested for a while, but the recent order for Russian T90Ms and Chinese VT4s seems to put an end to this option.