Türkiye has officially started mass production of its new main battle tank, the “Altay,” at the Ankara plant of domestic automaker BMC, marking a major milestone in the country’s defence ambitions.
Fuat Tosyali, BMC’s chairman, said on Friday that the project fulfils a century-old Turkish aspiration.
“Our factory has now begun mass production, after laying its foundations only last year — we expect it to meet the needs of the Turkish Armed Forces and allied countries in the defence industry,” he said.
Equipped with state-of-the-art technologies, the Altay is powered by the BATU engine, developed in-house by BMC Power, a subsidiary of BMC.
The Ankara production facility employs industrial robots and advanced manufacturing techniques to handle every stage of production, from hull fabrication to final assembly.
‘No setbacks observed’
