The setbacks and delays encountered in the Altay tank project, launched in 2007, have become a subject of political debate, while uncertainty remains over whether it will go into mass production.
Despite the announcement made by BMC, a private sector defense industry company jointly owned by Turkey and Qatar, on Sept. 5 that “mass production of Altay tanks has begun,” Haluk Görgün, head of the Defense Presidency, visited the company's production facilities, and said that the tanks will soon go into production.
The first tender for the Altay tank was won by Otokar, owned by Koç Holding, and this company produced the prototype tanks. In 2018, the serial production tender was awarded to BMC. During this process, the sale of 49.8% of BMC shares to Qatar drew criticism from opposition parties, particularly the CHP.
BMC officials opened the doors of their facilities to Anadolu Agency last month and said in an interview published on Sept. 5 that they had moved into the serial production phase. Görgün visited the same facilities exactly one month later, on Oct. 4. and said: “We inspected the production preparations for the Altay main battle tank on site and conducted technical evaluations. The Altay tank, which our nation has longed for for many years, will soon go into production at these facilities.”
