Turkish President Erdogan announced the establishment of a BMC production and technology base in the province of Sakarya, a USD 180 million investment. BMC is one of Turkey’s commercial and defense vehicle producers. Once all phases are completed, it is supposed to employ 10.000 people.

BMC Altay main battle tank (Picture source: Army Recognition)

The new site will produce Altay main battle tanks (MBTs), military and commercial vehicles, and engines of various platforms. Turkey intends to build 250 Altay MBTs and ultimately produce 1,000 new tanks in four separate lots of 250 units.

Altay's design has been realized in order to fulfill all kinds of operational requirements derived from the technical and tactical demands of the Turkish Armed Forces. In this scope, Altay has been equipped with the latest technologies that are used in the modern tanks. The Altay tank uses an advanced computerized Volkan-III modular fire-control system and is equipped with a 120mm L/55 smoothbore gun.