With the progress of the domestic ALTAY main battle tank program not progressing as Erdogan would have liked, Ankara has made the decision to implement a modernization of the Leopard 2A4s it has, or a significant number.
According to reports in the Turkish press, a decision has been made to modernize 280 Leopard 2A4 tanks in the stock of the Turkish Land Forces Command with national means. In this way the survivability of the Leopard 2A4 will increase.
After the operations carried out by the Turkish Armed Forces in northern Syria, it was decided to modernize the main battle tanks in the inventory of the Turkish Ground Forces Command as part of the urgent need for operations. In this context, around 170 armored M60Ts have been modernized under Project FIRAT-M60T so far.
CONTINUE READING
Αντιστράτηγος ε.α. Μπαλτζώης: Τι αλλάζει στην Ουκρανία με την αποστολή αρμάτων Leopard 2 και M1 Abrams (Βίντεο)
Again, in the context of urgent operational needs, more than 40 Leopard 2A4 tanks were modernized with the Roketsan-produced T1 Armored System and delivered to the Turkish Land Forces Command. However, under the Tank Upgrading Projects (TİYK) initiated by the Defense Industries Presidency the M60TM, Leopard 2A4 and M60A3 Tanks will be modernized again.
With the modernizations that will be carried out under the TİYK project, both additional armor integration and several electronic subsystems and special fire control systems will be carried out.
TİYK-LEO2A4: Upgrade to 280 Leopard 2A4
So far, more than 40 Leopard 2A4 tanks equipped with the T1 Supplemental Armor System have been delivered to the Turkish Ground Forces Command. With the TİYK Leopard 2A4 Project, 80 Leopard 2A4 tanks will be modernized in 2023 and 160 in 2026. At the same time, more than 40 Leopard 2A4 tanks modernized with the T1 Armor System will be upgraded to the TİYK-LEO2A4 standard, that is, their electronics will be changed subsystems.
The aim of the project is: Fire Control System, Active Protection System, Articulated Armor Protection System, Remote Controlled Weapon System, Proximity Surveillance System, Tank Driver Vision System, Auxiliary Power Group, Tank Control Information System, Laser Warning System, Suppression System fire and explosion protection, protective lining, life support system
By the end of the program, 280 of the Leopard 2A4 tanks in the inventory of the Turkish Land Forces Command will have been modernized, that is, almost all of them.
T1 armor system
With passive composite armour, explosive reactive armour, and mesh armor added to the Leopard 2A4 tanks, the protection of the tank's sensitive points has been increased. Added 6.33 tons of extra weight to the tank with the additional T1 armor package. The combat weight of Leopard 2A4 tanks with an armor package reached 61.33 tons. Thanks to the low weight of the T1 armor package, there was minimal loss of tank mobility and the upgraded tanks successfully passed mobility tests, Turkish sources say.
It seems that with this move the Turks are integrating the knowledge gained through the suffering of the invasions in Syria into their tanks. The question that now arises is: is there something similar on the Greek side?
