South Korean Doosan Infracore delivers DV27K engine to power Turkish Altay MBT.

According to Daily Sabah, the engine for Turkey’s long-awaited indigenously developed Altay main battle tank (MBT) has arrived from South Korea, Presidency of Defense Industries (SSB) head Ismail Demir said Sunday, March 13: "The tests of the engine’s power systems are currently underway. We are waiting for May. We will see the prototype of the tank with this engine," he said while speaking to a group of journalists on the sidelines of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum (ADF).
Follow Army Recognition on Google News at this link

Altay MBT at a military parade in Turkey (Picture source: Twitter account of Bumfuzzle)

The prototype for the Altay was unveiled at a 2011 defense show in Istanbul. Media reports said previously that Turkish defense industrial BMC, the company that is undertaking the Altay project, signed an agreement with two South Korean companies, Doosan Infracore Co. and S&T Dynamics Co., for the engine and transmission. So, Doosan Infracore is now delivering its DV27K, 4-cycle, 12-cylinder water-cooled diesel engine developing 1,500 hp.

Previously, the Altay prototype was powered by a 1,500 horsepower diesel engine from MTU Friedrichshafen GmbH. Rheinmetall had also established a joint venture with BMC aimed at joint production of armored vehicles, particularly the Altay main battle tank. However, the production and supply of the tank engine came to a halt following Berlin’s decision to limit arms exports to Turkey, a longtime NATO ally, Daily Sabah recalls.

The German arms embargo came as a result of the flare-ups in Syria that have put weapons sales to Ankara under intense scrutiny by its Western allies. Germany has repeatedly announced that it limits arms sales to Turkey, which launched a counterterrorism operation in northern Syria that targeted both Daesh terrorists and the PKK terrorist group and its Syrian branch, the YPG.

Meanwhile, Turkish defense officials have reiterated several times that the engine to be purchased from abroad will only be used on the first mass-produced tanks while in the subsequent productions, Altay tanks are to be powered with domestic engines that are under production.

Altay MBT at a military parade in Turkey (Picture source: Twitter account of Bumfuzzle)