Turkish Leopards get homemade armour upgrade
Turkish industry is producing an armour upgrade kit for Leopard 2A4s. (Photo: SSB)
Aselsan has begun ‘mass production’ of an armour upgrade kit for Leopard 2A4 main battle tanks in service with the Turkish Land Forces, according to Ismail Demir, head of the Turkish Presidency of Defense Industries (SSB).
The armour package was designed at the Roketsan Ballistic Protection Center, Demir added in a 6 June statement on social media.
He declared: ‘Developed in different configurations for turret and hull compartments according to threat analysis, the armour package still has the most effective ballistic protection used in Leopard 2A4 tanks in the world's armies.’
Demir did not disclose the timeframe for rolling out the armour upgrade.
There are 344 Leopard 2A4s in the Turkish Land Forces inventory, according to Shephard Defence Insight. The tank features flat titanium-tungsten armour as standard.
Related Equipment in Defence Insight
More from Land Warfare
-
Drone wars: countries are looking for answers but do companies have the solutions?
Manufacturers are speeding up their counter-drone development efforts as countries increasingly focus on procurements to provide battlefield and national protection.
-
Sweden seeks US HIMARS missile system to expand long-range strike capability
The proposed $920 million deal would provide Sweden with a step up from its existing tube artillery and align the country with other northern European nations that have selected the HIMARS platform.
-
Thales Storm 2 counter-drone system being evaluated by potential customers
The attack drone threat from first-person view uncrewed aerial systems has been highlighted by recent conflicts and Thales has adapted its Storm 2 counter-improvised explosive device jammer to provide protection.