Turkey's M60T upgrade nears conclusion
12th April 2018 - 11:06 GMT | by Grant Turnbull in London
The Turkish Land Forces is set to complete the modernisation of its M60T ‘Fırat’ main battle tank fleet next month, officials have disclosed.
Speaking at the Future Armoured Vehicles Situational Awareness conference on 11 April, a Turkish industry official said that 120 M60Ts had now been upgraded and that the programme would likely wrap up 'in several weeks’ time.
The official told Shephard that on top of the 120 tanks already modernised, an additional 49 have been earmarked for upgrade work and 12 units will be used as spares. That aligns with the number of M60Ts the Turkish Army is believed to have in its inventory.
In 2002, Turkey signed a contract worth nearly $700 million with Israel Military Industries (now IMI Systems) to upgrade 170 M60A1 tanks to the M60T standard, incorporating a new 120mm gun, explosive reactive armour and updated powertrain.
The Turkish MoD contracted domestic company Aselsan for this round of upgrades, signing a contract at IDEF in Istanbul last year for $135 million.
Modifications improve overall situational awareness and crew protection and include Aselsan’s TLUS laser warning system, a SARP remote weapon station, the ‘Yamgoz’ 360° surveillance system as well as a new air conditioning unit.
The upgrades are carried out at army maintenance centres around Turkey.
The Turkish Land Forces have not wasted any time in deploying the upgraded tanks, with photos appearing online in February showing the new M60T tanks in Turkey’s Hatay province, close to the Syrian border.
It was reported they were being transported to support the army’s ‘Operation Olive Branch’ mission around Afrin, where it committed troops to fight Kurdish militants of the YPG. A major driver of the modernisation has been protection against the increased threat from anti-tank guided missiles, which have caused multiple casualties during Turkey’s incursions into Syria.
The official told Shephard that it was also expecting a serial production contract for modernising the Turkish Army’s legacy M60A3 variant sometime this year, under what is known as the Euphrates modernisation.
Photos have appeared online showing a prototype of the M60A3 modernisation, incorporating several of the technologies that have also been used for the Fırat including cameras, laser warning systems and the SARP RWS.
Additional upgrades include the addition of angled ERA plates around the turret as well as a new driver vision system, power distribution unit and fire suppression system. An active protection system, likely based on the Ukrainian Zaslon, is also in the works although the industry source said this may not be for another year or two.
Modernising the legacy M60A3 has become a more pressing requirement in recent years as progress on Turkey’s domestic Altay MBT programme has stalled.
Turkey originally received 274 A1 and 658 A3 variants from surplus US stock in the 1990s, according to the SIPRI arms transfer database.
There is also a requirement for modernising the army’s ageing Leopard 2A4, although fluctuating relations between Germany and Turkey has also slowed this effort.
https://www.shephardmedia.com/news/landwarfareintl/turkeys-m60t-upgrade-nears-conclusion/PS : parece um post mesmo á medida para upgrades dos M60A3TTS, aqueles, que já não temos !!!!!
Abraços
