In 2008, the Turkish defense company Otokar signed a contract with South Korea’s Hyundai Rotem for the transfer of ‘Black Panther’ technology, marking the beginning of the Altay tank development project. (Yonhap)
ISTANBUL & SEOUL, Jun. 4 (Korea Bizwire) –Turkey has expressed its intention to export the domestically produced Altay tank, which incorporates technology from South Korea’s ‘Black Panther’ (K2) main battle tank, to various European countries.
In a recent interview with Turkey’s state-run TRT Haber broadcaster on Friday, Haluk Gorgun, the head of the Defence Industry Agency of Turkey (SSB), stated, “We have begun mass production of our indigenous Altay tank,” adding, “We are negotiating with partner countries that wish to cooperate with us.”
Gorgun emphasized the enhanced capabilities of the Altay tank, manufactured by the Turkish defense company BMC, tailored for modern warfare environments. “We are a very strong country in land vehicles,” he said.
He also mentioned that Turkey possesses products preferred by member states of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in Europe.
In 2008, the Turkish defense company Otokar signed a contract with South Korea’s Hyundai Rotem for the transfer of ‘Black Panther’ technology, marking the beginning of the Altay tank development project. The development was completed in 2016, according to Otokar.
Two years later, in November 2018, the SSB announced a contract with BMC for the production of 250 Altay tanks.
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
