Following repeated losses in the fighting against Syrian and Iraqi Kurds, some suffered last month in Afrin, Syria, Turkey is rushing to equip its main battle tanks with the ‘Akkor Pulat’ Active Protection Systems (APS) developed in Ukraine. In late February 2018 Turkish Defense Minister Nurettin Canikli announced that following successful tests in Ukraine the APS will begin testing on M-60T and Leopard-2A4 tanks in Turkey, to follow with operational deployment of systems on those tanks soon after the tests completion. Turkey decided to adopt the Ukraine system as a stopgap measure to protect its armored vehicles after suffering significant losses to anti-tank missile attacks in Syria. The primary threat they encountered in Syria was the second generation Anti-Tank Guided Missiles (ATGM), such as the TOW, Konkurs, and Kornet fired from ranges of several hundred meters to few kilometers away. Videos released by the Kurds show tanks and self-propelled artillery being hit from medium distances, by guided anti-tank missiles fired at targets that were exposed over ridge line or out in the open.
Turkey uses the German Leopard 2A4 that did not receive the latest survivability upgrades the German Army is currently taking. In contrast, the Turkish M-60Ts offers superior protection, given the modular armor added to its turret under the upgrading program developed by Israel’s IMI. However, even this armor is not immune to large diameter tandem warheads used by the laser beam-riding Kornet.
With limited access to original equipment providers (due to political friction between Turkey, Germany, and Israel), Ankara realized that to meet this urgent need, primarily with Leopard 2A4 and M-60A3 main battle tanks, that are the least protected, they will have to rely on the local industry. To further cut corners, they looked elsewhere for mature active protection systems solutions and found the Ukrainian Zaslon as a suitable solution, addressing both operational needs and political constraints.
The Urgent Operational Requirement (UOR) calls for the procurement of 120 systems, each comprised of six sensor-effector units, command and control and cabling harness. The Turks implemented some changes in the Ukrainian system, reflected by the look and function of the system. Following the initial tests, the system is integrated with three different platforms – Leopard 2A4, M-60A3, and M-60T. In addition, the tanks will also receive laser warning systems and infrared jammers, providing additional protection from 2nd Generation missiles (TOW, Konkurs etc.) Akkor Pulat is the Turkish version of the new, light version (Zaslon-L), to be produced under license by Aselsan. The main difference from Zaslon is its design as a modular and disposable unit, thus being lighter, cheaper and less complex to integrate. In addition, Akkor-Pulat is likely employed in fixed installations, each unit contains a single effector in an extracted position. While this configuration is considerably more vulnerable to physical damage, its integration and testing are much simpler, thus enabling accelerated deployment. The configuration used by the Turks uses six units mounted in pairs on the front and the sides. This version is effective against RPGs, recoilless guns, and ATGM. The localization of the Ukrainian system was done by Aselsan in accordance with the technical and export liaison agencies of the two countries,
Matthew Gonzalez
>ukrainian >ukraine No such things.
Ayden Gutierrez
>the Turkish M-60Ts offers superior protection The Sabra Hummus M60 is doing better than the Leopard?
Tyler Garcia
The Leopard 2A4 operated by Turkey has either the Original (1979) or 1985 armor profiles, but both are obsolete. The Sabra was built much later, so it makes sense.
