by Ami Rojkes Dombe
A Turkish tank, upgraded by IMI, has survived a 'Kornet' missile strike
A photograph that was presumably released by a Turkish military source to counter the Islamic State's claim that it destroyed a Turkish tank at Bashiqah. The image shows a M60T tank that has been damaged, but not destroyed. (unknown)
A
Turkish M60T – a version of the US-made tank upgraded by Israeli
Military Industries (IMI) – has apparently survived being hit by the
latest Russian infantry portable anti-tank guided weapon (ATGW) system.
This, according to a report on janes.
The attack was seen in a video released by the Islamic
State militant group on 19 April and showed a man firing a 9K129 Kornet
ATGW towards a tank on a hilltop position. The missile hit its target,
but the tank was not seen exploding or burning.
The Islamic State said the target was a Turkish tank
deployed to Bashiqah, 30 km to the northeast of Mosul city in northern
Iraq. The Turkish military presence at Bashiqah and several other
locations in Iraq was revealed in December 2015, prompting Baghdad to
demand that Turkey withdraw all its troops from its territory.
Ankara ignored the demand, stating that the base at
Bashiqah had been established to train a militia to help expel the
Islamic State from Mosul.
Later on 19 April, Turkey's Anadolu Agency reported a
military source as saying that the Islamic State carried out an attack
on a M60 tank at Bashiqah. The source said the tank had been slightly
damaged and there were no casualties in the camp. Turkish forces
returned fire, killing 32 Islamic State fighters.
A photograph emerged on social media purportedly showing
the tank that was hit in the attack. The tank was an M60T in a hull-down
defensive position with much of the applique armor fitted to the front
right side of its turret blown away. The underlying armor did not appear
to have been penetrated.
The M60T is an M60A1 that has been upgraded with a 120 mm
smoothbore gun, a new fire-control system, a more powerful engine and
transmission, and hybrid armor (both active and passive) over its
frontal arc.
Turkish tank upgrade project
The Turkish tank upgrade project was signed in March 2002,
for US $687.5 million. In accordance with the agreement, IMI had
upgraded 170 tanks. The upgrade of the Turkish Army involved its
infrastructure and personnel, as well as the transfer of knowledge
needed for the production of some of the tank systems to local defense
industries.
The goal of the project was to upgrade the obsolete
platform of the US M60A1 tank (made in the 1960's) into a modern weapon
system, including the integration of advanced "tankionics", propulsion,
firepower and armor systems. These systems are already integrated
successfully in the Main Battle Tanks (MBT) of the IDF. They are based
on the military and technology experience that accumulated in the
Israeli Defense establishment, as well as in IMI and other Israeli
defense industries for decades, as part of the Merkava project.
The project, which ended successfully after eight years of
operation, has received the support of the Ministry of Defense. As part
of the upgrade, all the main systems of the original tank were replaced
with advanced, modern systems, as follows: Firepower – a 120 mm cannon, as well as advanced fire control and turret systems. Armor – hybrid armor system that has been proven in comprehensive experiments. Mobility – a modern 1000HP engine and transmission, final drive and an innovative continuous track.
The result is a high performance tank, with equal
capabilities of some of the world's leading MBTs. Elbit systems was the
primary subcontractor in the project. Dozens of other subcontractors
were involved in the project, including the Israeli companies Urdan and
Orlite, and the German companies MTU and RENK. A unique collaboration
took place with the Turkish industries Aselsan and MKE, which included
the transfer of knowledge needed for manufacture and maintenance.
The upgraded tank was approved for serial production after a
long series of rigorous tests in Israel and Turkey, carried out by
Turkish teams with the support of the military industry.
Ami Rojkes Dombe
Source: http://www.israeldefense.co.il/en/content/turkish-tank-crew-saved-israeli-armor
Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.
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