Türkiye receives first Altay MBT

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan attends the ceremony for the opening of the BMC Ankara tank and new-generation armoured vehicles production facility and the first delivery of new Altay tanks at Kahramankazan district, Ankara, on 28 October 2025. (Turkish Presidency/Mustafa Kamaci/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Türkiye received its first Altay main battle tanks (MBTs) during a ceremony that also marked the opening of the BMC Ankara tank and new-generation armoured vehicles production facility on 28 October.

Addressing the ceremony flanked by two Altay tanks, Turkish Minister of National Defence Yaşar Güler said, “The indispensable role of tanks in asymmetric and challenging operational environments, especially in conventional warfare with their high firepower, serious armour protection, and mobility reveals how valuable this project is for our army and defence industry. In this respect, our Altay tank will elevate the combat power of our land forces to even higher levels while also enhancing the safety of our personnel... The sensitive developments in our region and around the world, as well as our strategic geography, necessitate having a strong and effective army equipped with domestic and national defence industry products.”

Turkish Presidency of Defence Industries (SSB) President Haluk Görgün announced on X on 24 February that three Altays would be delivered in 2025, followed by 85 tanks in the T1 configuration by 2028. He added that deliveries of 165 Altays in the T2 configuration would begin in 2028.

On 29 May 2024, the SSB announced that Türkiye had signed a contract on the serial production of the Altay MBT and set out the scope of the project, including the establishment of a serial production line.