Turkish active protection system ‘Akkor Pulat’ to equip tanks in Syria.

Developed by the Turkish company Aselsan and the country's top scientific body, Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK), an active protection system is ready to be retrofitted on Turkish tanks in Afrin.

Turkish active protection system ‘Akkor Pulat’ ready to equip tanks (Picture source: ASELSAN)

In a share on Twitter, the undersecretary of state for the defense industry, Ismail Demir, said that the active protection system "Akkor Pulat" developed by the Military Electronic Industry (ASELSAN) and the Turkish Institute Research and Scientific and Technological Development (TUBITAK SAGE), had passed the tests successfully.

Demir said the active protection system would soon be integrated with the tanks on mission in Afrine in Syria, as part of Operation Olive Branch launched on January 20 to neutralize PKK/KCK/PYD members, YPG and DAESH, as well. Last week, Defense Minister Nurettin Canikli said that around 91% of the weapons the Turkish forces are using in Operation Olive Branch were domestically-produced.

PULAT is effective in both asymmetric warfare and operational environment of main battle tanks. It can also handle multiple threats effectively at the same time as a result of its distributed architecture. The system can be adapted to different armored vehicles by altering its modular and distributed system solution. It is aimed at intercepting close-range anti-tank weapons and long-range guided anti-tank missiles by detecting them with high-technology radars at a definite distance. This way, it provides 360 degrees of protection for tanks on the battleground, depending on the placement of the modules on the platform, against anti-tank guided missiles (ATGM) and rockets.