Turkey decided to upgrade its ACV-15 AFV amphibious armored combat vehicles

By Boyko Nikolov On Oct 16, 2020

ANKARA, (BM) – In the last 24 hours, a video was spread on some social networks by Ismail Demir, who claims that a program to upgrade the Turkish ACV-15 AFV amphibious armored combat vehicle has started in Turkey, learned BulgarianMilitary.com.

Ismail Demir is the president of the Turkish company SSB and according to his statement on social networks, the project to renew the “Turkish amphibians” will also include the local Asselsan and FNSS. The latter company is a joint venture between the Turkish company Nurol Holding of Turkey and the British BAE Systems Inc.

According to the parameters set in the program for renewal of Turkish weapons, ACV-15 AFV is to receive better protection together with new integrated functionalities in terms of protection against mines and others. Sources from the Turkish Ministry of Defense also say that these weapons should receive better power units, as well as better air conditioning.

Regarding the combat capability of the ACV-15, AFV Turkey also plans to invest in its modernization. According to preliminary data, the machine will receive a remote-controlled weapon station NEFER, which has a 25 mm automatic cannon and an additional machine gun, 7.62 mm. This remote-controlled tower is a product of the Turkish company Aselsan.

According to the technical characteristics provided in advance by the Turkish company, this tower successfully hits targets while moving, whether they are mobile or stationary, which tells military experts that it is well balanced and stabilized. This is because the tower has a gyroscopic stabilization system. Other key features of NEFER are its 360 degree rotation and operation at different ambient temperatures.

However, NEFER also features other interesting and functionally distinctive features, such as the ability of an on-board computer inside the machine to perform controlled control of gun firing, as well as the presence of an excellent optical surveillance system. Speaking of optical surveillance, we have in mind the standard equipment of NEFER in this field – day and night surveillance systems, laser rangefinders, automated target tracking, as well as an automatic system for calculating ballistics.

According to sources from the Turkish Ministry of Defense, the country’s army has nearly 2,280 ACV-15 AFV amphibious armored combat vehicles, which are in service and in use. But this is the total number of the family of this type of combat vehicles. If we divide them by functionality and application, the Turkish army has 650 armored combat vehicles, 1,400 armored personnel carriers, 50 towing vehicles and 180 pieces of armored mortars.

According to preliminary information, in addition to Turkey, these combat armored vehicles are used by the armed forces of Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates.

Turkey already has the latest generation missiles for its S-400 anti-aircraft systems

Ankara is the first foreign recipient to receive 9M96E2 missiles, according to a photo posted on social media from the Turkish S-400 battery exercise over the Black Sea, as we reported on October 10.

These are missiles with a range of up to 120 km, developed for the latest Russian medium-range system S-350 Vityaz, launched in December 2019.

The photo of Turkish soldiers standing in front of two 51P6A launchers of the S-400 system most probably comes from the training ground in the Sinop area on the Turkish Black Sea coast. According to the Turkish media on October 6, 2020, one of the two S-400 batteries is to carry out the first combat exercises at the local training ground, including sharp shooting. A typical propaganda photo from this event, showing a row of soldiers in front of the launchers, would not have aroused much interest were it not for the configuration of the vehicles.

The photo shows two 51P6A launcher vehicles on the MZKT-7930 chassis. The one on the left is armed with 4 semi-active guided 48N6E2 missile containers as standard. The launcher visible on the right, in addition to two 48N6E2 missiles, is also equipped with a module of four much smaller launch containers for the 9M96E or 9M96E2 missiles with active radar guidance.

This means that Turkey not only acquired the S-400 system in the latest configuration, typical for Russian units, but also became the first foreign user of the 9M96E2 missiles. Rockets of this type, along with the much lighter 9M100, constitute the basic armament of the S-350 Witjaź system, introduced in December 2019.

The 9M96E1 missiles have an active radar guidance and have a range of 60 km (the damage height of aerodynamic targets is from 10 meters to 20 km). The 9M96E2 missiles have similar parameters, but their range is 120 km and the effective ceiling is 30 km. Thanks to the use of active radar guidance and higher maneuverability than the 9M48E2, their use significantly increases the effectiveness of fighting high maneuvering targets flying at low altitude.

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BulgarianMilitary.com
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