President of Defence Industries Prof. Dr. İsmail Demir was the guest of SETA (Political, Economic and Social Research Foundation) joint live broadcast with SSB.

Professor Dr. Demir made important statements regarding the mass production phase of the Altay main battle tank. An alternative intermediate solution will be made on the platforms, which are currently experiencing manufacturing problems due to the engine and power pack. In this framework, production will start using the engine/power packs acquired from abroad for the prototype works of the project. Thus, the first Altay main battle tanks to be manufactured during the partial production phase will enter the Turkish Armed Forces inventory.

Prof. Dr. Demir underlined the improvement and modernization works of some tanks in the past and also referring to the tanks currently in use in the inventory. It was stated that the capabilities of the tanks, which were modernized in the past, will be improved and additional tanks will be modernized.

M60T Sabra tanks operating in the Turkish Land Forces inventory were subjected to Fırat modernization under ASELSAN's main contractorship. The new tanks are called M60TM Fırat Sabra. Currently, Leopard 2A4, M60TM Fırat Sabra, M60T Sabra, Leopard 1, Leopard 1T, M60 Patton and M48A5T1 and T2 tanks are in service within the TAF.