Turkey is starting on a large-scale project aimed to upgrade all 280 Leopard 2A4 tanks to the TİYK Leopard 2A4 standard. As part of this project, Turkish industry expects to upgrade the Leopard 2A4's fire control system and tank control system, fire suppression system and auxiliary power plant. Also modular armor protection and active protection systems of will be of Turkish production as well, Savunmasanayist reports.
However, it’s not disclosed to what extent this upgrading will improve the specifications of the Turkish-made Leopard 2A4 modification. The only thing that’s been stated is timing: 80 tanks should be modernized in 2023, and another 160 in 2026. According to the article, the T1 Armor System protection complexes by Roketsan will be installed on such vehicles, which are already on 40 Leopard 2A4 tanks in service with the Turkish ground forces.
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The Turkish T1 Armor System includes blocks of composite armor, blocks of active protection and anti-cumulative grids to protect tanks in the aft projection. Overall, such an additional armor weighs 6.33 tons, which increases the general mass of tank to 61.3 tons.
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