With the Addition of Capability to Tanks (TİYK) - M60T Project, the Fire Control System, defined as the brain of the Main Battle Tanks, was localized and the modernization process was moved to the final stage. All electronic systems on the M60T Tanks were produced with national resources, eliminating external dependency other than the power group.
TİYK – M60T First Tank Delivery Ceremony, which was initiated by the Presidency of Defense Industries (SSB) in order to meet the modernization needs of the Land Forces Command, was attended by the President of Defense Industries Prof. Dr. Haluk Görgün, Deputy Minister of National Defense Dr. It was held in Şereflikoçhisar with the participation of Celal Sami Tüfekçi, Land Forces Commander General Selçuk Bayraktaroğlu, ASELSAN General Manager Ahmet Akyol, Turkish Armed Forces and sector representatives.
SSB President Görgün stated the following in his speech within the scope of the Delivery Ceremony of the first batch of modernized tanks:
“The difficulties experienced in the maintenance and maintenance of the M60 Tanks, whose configurations have been updated with the improvements carried out by foreign companies in the past period, and the problems faced by the countries providing products and services have pushed us to become a country that researches, develops, produces and prepares original solutions. Our Executive Committee, with the approval of our President, initiated the Project to Provide Additional Capabilities to Tanks for the improvement of our tanks in the inventory, and within the scope of this project, as mentioned, the basic elements of the tank, especially the fire control system, were shaped with domestic design products. As a result, as in many fields, our bad neighbor country has hosted the defense industry. M60T Tanks are known for their powerful propulsion systems, effective firepower and durability. Our country has updated these tanks with modernization studies and made them compatible with today's technology. By selling our fire control systems as export items abroad, our technological superiority in this field has been recognized by countries around the world. Carrying out the design and production processes locally and nationally paves the way for the adaptation of this system to tanks in different configurations around the world. I would like to thank all our subcontractor companies who contributed to the project, especially ASELSAN.”
New Generation Touches to Main Battle Tanks
Commander of the Land Forces, General Selçuk Bayraktaroğlu, also said at the ceremony: “As a result of the studies carried out, new products are included in the inventory of our Turkish Armed Forces every day and the possibilities and capabilities of our army are constantly improved. Tanks, one of the important maneuver elements of land operations, continue to be one of the main weapons of the battlefield with their fire, speed and armor power. In this context, the integration of our existing tanks with local and national systems is directly related to success in the tactical field and combat operations. Based on this fact, today we are adding additional capabilities to M60T tanks as a concrete result of our efforts to make our Land Forces more effective and stronger. In this way, we will detect the enemy earlier, hit them with more precision and destroy them from further away. We name the tank, which is the first delivery today, in which all domestic and national defense industry product systems are integrated, as M60T1. “I am proud that this tank, which will strengthen our force, will enter the inventory.”
ASELSAN General Manager Ahmet Akyol underlined that they are the only company in the world that produces all the electronic systems used in a tank in-house and continued as follows:
“Almost every day, we witness new examples proving the level our defense industry has reached. With this modernization project, we have added a new one to the countless examples showing the level that the Turkish defense industry has reached. As ASELSAN, today we have become an assertive company in the world when it comes to tank modernization. We proved this by undertaking the modernization work of Leopard class tanks belonging to the Chilean army, on the other side of the world. Thanks to modernization projects, we also had the opportunity to expand these subsystems to our other armored vehicles. We are currently in a position to carry out the modernization of all M, T and Leopard series tanks in the best possible way. During this project, the first of which was delivered today, we also localized the fire control system. Thus, we have become able to produce all the electronics that can equip a tank locally and nationally.”
First Female Tank Personnel
During the delivery ceremony, shooting was also carried out with the tank whose fire control system was modernized. Expert Engineer Büşra Doğru from the project team served as the gunner on the M60T tank, which was modernized with the ASELSAN VOLKAN-M Fire Control System. The targets were hit with full accuracy.
2024 Model M60T
With the Addition of Capability to Tanks (TİYK) - M60T Project, which was initiated as a continuation of the modernization activities carried out within the scope of the FIRAT-M60T Project, the Fire Control System, defined as the brain of the Main Battle Tanks, was localized by ASELSAN and the modernization process was moved to the final stage. At this stage, all electronic systems on the M60T tanks can be produced with national resources and external dependency other than the power group has been eliminated.
Within the scope of the FIRAT-M60T Project, which was carried out to protect main battle tanks more effectively against anti-tank threats and terrorist elements and to provide additional capabilities to existing systems, the modernization of all M60 tanks in the Turkish army's inventory to the M60T configuration was completed. M60 tanks, modernized with the FIRAT-M60T Project, successfully performed their duties in Turkey's cross-border operations.
In line with the needs of the Land Forces Command, the development of the National Fire Control System VOLKAN-M system instead of the foreign-origin Fire Control System in tanks has started within the scope of the Fırat M60T Project, and the TİYK-M60T Project contract, which is a new project within the scope of serial integration, was signed with the SSB on 04 July 2022. It was signed between ASELSAN.
Within the scope of the project, the following subsystems were integrated into the M60T tank:
1- VOLKAN-M Fire Control System
2- Tank Command Control Communication Information System
3- Additional Armor Protection
4- Crew Seats
Apart from tank integrations, the scope of the project also included the Live Tower Training Model, Desktop VOLKAN-M Fire Control System and Factory Level Maintenance/Repair (FASBAT) for the tanks to be modernized before delivery.
Within the scope of the TİYK-M60T Project, the integration of the systems to be integrated into the M60T tanks and the factory maintenance level maintenance and modification activities of the tanks are carried out at Kayseri 2nd Main Maintenance Factory Directorate. Within the scope of the project, Additional Armor Protections from ROKETSAN and crew seats from T-Kılıp company are supplied. At the current stage of the project, two modernized M60T tanks have been added to the inventory of the Land Forces Command. In the later stages of the project, it is envisaged that the relevant modernization project will be extended to other M60T tanks in the inventory of the Land Forces Command.