The first two M60T main battle tanks (MBTs) modernised to the M60T1 standard have been delivered to the Turkish Land Forces Command (TLFC), the Turkish Defence Industry Agency (SSB) announced on 10 February 2024.
Under the TİYK-M60T Project, the main upgrade to the M60T is the installation of an indigenously developed fire control system in the form of the Volkan-M system provided by Aselsan, which signed an agreement with the SSB to provide the system for the TİYK-M60T Project in July 2022.
The M60T1 upgrade also includes the Tank Command, Control, Communication Information System (TC3IS) provided by STM Savunma, an additional armour package from Roketsan and new crew seats provided by T-Kalıp.
The upgrades are integrated by the 2nd Main Maintenance Factory Directorate in Kayseri
Speaking during a delivery ceremony for the first two M60T1s held in Şereflikoçhisar on 9 February, SSB President Dr Haluk Görgün stated, “The difficulties experienced in the maintenance of the M60 tanks, whose configurations have been updated with the improvements carried out by foreign companies in the past period, and the problems faced by the countries providing products and services, have pushed us to become a country that researches, develops, produces and prepares original solutions.
“Our Executive Committee, with the approval of our President, initiated the Project to Provide Additional Capabilities to Tanks [TİYK] for the improvement of our tanks in the inventory and within the scope of this project, as mentioned, the basic elements of the tank, especially the fire control system, were shaped with domestic design products,” Görgün added. “Carrying out the design and production processes locally and nationally paves the way for the adaptation of this system to tanks in different configurations around the world. I would like to thank all our subcontractor companies, especially Aselsan, who contributed to the project.”
It is not known how many Turkish M60Ts will receive the M60T1 upgrade, but there are around 166 such MBTs in the TLFC inventory. The tanks were originally upgraded to the M60T standard with Israeli assistance.
