How Many Tanks Does Turkey Have? Altay, Leopard 2 and M60

Turkey has 2,284 main battle tanks on its books, more than any NATO member except the United States. Fewer than 500 of them are modern. The rest are American and German designs from the 1950s and 1960s that have been rebuilt several times. The tank meant to replace them, the Turkish-made Altay, began reaching the army in October 2025 after a wait of seventeen years.

This guide counts the fleet type by type, explains which tanks have been upgraded and why, and sets out when the Altays are due.

How many tanks does Turkey have?

The GlobalMilitary database, updated in September 2026, lists 2,284 tanks in six types. Three carry a 120 mm gun and three the older 105 mm.

The modern part of the fleet is the first three rows: 486 tanks. The other 1,798 would struggle against any army equipped with current anti-tank missiles, which is the lesson Turkey took from Syria.

Leopard 2A4: the backbone

Turkey bought its Leopard 2A4s second-hand from German army stocks from 2005 onward. They were built in the 1980s for a war on the North German plain, with thick frontal armour and thinner sides. In December 2016 Turkish units sent them into the Syrian town of al-Bab against Islamic State fighters armed with guided missiles. About ten were destroyed or disabled in a few weeks, most of them hit from the side or rear.

The response was armour. About 80 tanks have been rebuilt to a standard called Leopard 2A4T1, with Turkish add-on and reactive armour around the hull and turret. A deeper upgrade, known by its Turkish initials as TİYK, adds the same armour to the rest of the fleet together with the Akkor active protection system, a new fire-control system, a remotely operated machine gun and a laser warning receiver. First deliveries of that version were planned for 2026.

M60T: the Patton rebuilt in Israel

The M60T is an American M60A1 from the 1960s with almost everything replaced. Under a 2002 contract worth $688 million, Israel Military Industries fitted 170 tanks with a 120 mm gun, a 1,000 hp engine, new armour and a modern fire-control system. Deliveries ran until 2010.

They fought in Syria as well, and were upgraded again afterwards under a programme named Fırat. Aselsan added all-round cameras, a laser warning system and a remotely operated weapon station, and some tanks received Pulat, a Turkish active protection system that destroys an incoming rocket with a small explosive charge. Shephard reported in April 2018 that 120 tanks had been through the upgrade and 49 more were to follow.

Altay: the Turkish tank

The Altay is named after General Fahrettin Altay, a cavalry commander in the Turkish War of Independence. The programme began in 2008, when Otokar was contracted to design the tank with technical help from South Korea’s Hyundai Rotem, maker of the K2. Prototypes were running by 2012. The production contract, for 250 tanks, went to BMC on 9 November 2018, with the first tank promised in 18 months.

It took seven years. The prototypes used a German engine and transmission, and Germany restricted their supply after Turkey’s 2019 operation in northern Syria. In 2021 Turkey turned to South Korea for a replacement power pack, and two tanks fitted with it were delivered for trials in 2023. The first three production tanks were handed over in Ankara in late October 2025, at the opening of a BMC factory built to turn out eight Altays a month.

The Altay T1 weighs about 65 tonnes and has a crew of four. It carries a 120 mm 55-calibre smoothbore gun, a 1,500 hp Korean engine, Aselsan’s Volkan-II fire-control system and the Akkor active protection system, which uses radar to detect an incoming missile and fires a counter-munition at it.

The T2 is the version Turkey wants. Its engine, transmission and cooling system are the Batu power pack made by BMC Power, which removes the last foreign component that another government could withhold.

The older tanks: M60A3, Leopard 1 and M48

Almost four in five Turkish tanks belong to an earlier generation. The M60A3 has a thermal sight but armour that dates from the Vietnam era. The Leopard 1 was designed in the 1960s on the assumption that armour could not stop modern ammunition, so speed mattered more; 171 of them carry Aselsan’s Volkan fire-control system. The M48A5T2 is a 1950s hull with a 105 mm gun and a Turkish-fitted thermal sight, and serves mainly with second-line units and the Turkish force in northern Cyprus.

The United States took its own M60s out of front-line service in the 1990s; its present fleet is covered in our guide to the M1 Abrams. Turkey has kept the older tanks because numbers still matter on long borders and because nothing was available to replace them. If all 250 Altays are delivered, the modern core will grow from 486 tanks to about 730.

Does Turkey build other tanks?

Two lighter designs exist, both for export. FNSS developed the Kaplan MT with Indonesia’s Pindad; it weighs 30 to 35 tonnes, carries a 105 mm gun and is in Indonesian service as the Harimau. Otokar offers a light tank based on its Tulpar tracked vehicle with a 105 mm turret. The Turkish army has ordered neither.

How strong is the Turkish tank force?

On paper it is the largest in NATO Europe. In practice its weight rests on the 316 Leopards and 165 M60Ts. Greece, the neighbour Turkey has always measured itself against, fields about 350 Leopard 2s, of which 170 are the newer 2A6 HEL with a longer gun and better armour than anything Turkey had before the Altay. That gap is the reason the Altay was ordered, and its delivery rate over the next three years will decide when the gap closes.

Frequently asked questions

How many tanks does Turkey have in 2026?

2,284 main battle tanks, according to the GlobalMilitary database in September 2026. About 486 of them are modern types with a 120 mm gun.

What is Turkey’s main battle tank?

The Leopard 2A4 is the most numerous modern type, with 316 in service. The Turkish-built Altay is planned to become the standard tank as deliveries rise.

How many Altay tanks does Turkey have?

Five were listed in service in September 2026. BMC planned to deliver 14 by the end of 2026 and 85 by the end of 2028, out of 250 on order.

Does the Altay tank use a Korean engine?

The first 85, called Altay T1, do. The 165 Altay T2 tanks due from 2028 are to use the Turkish Batu power pack made by BMC Power.

How many Leopard 2 tanks does Turkey have?

316, all of the 2A4 version bought second-hand from Germany. About 80 have been fitted with Turkish add-on armour.

Who builds the Altay tank?

BMC builds it at a factory in Ankara. Otokar designed the prototypes, Aselsan supplies the electronics and protection systems, and the state company MKE makes the gun.