M44T

     Notes:  This is an upgrade of the old M44 155mm self-propelled howitzer, which Turkey bought from the United States in the 1950s.  The upgrade work was done by a German consortium of MTU, GLS and Rheinmetall, and was comprehensive almost to the point of trashing the entire vehicle and starting from scratch. Design Work began in 1987, with upgrades being done as quickly as possible. Some 222 of these upgrades were done.  Turkey has expressed a willingness to do the upgrades for other countries, but there are no takers as of yet.  The upgrades are modular, so an end user may pick and choose about what upgrades to make. However, the M44Ts have long been sent to reserve sites, for use of recently-Called-up reserves (and it would have to be a national emergency for that to happen).  The M44Ts are kept in running order; the engines, gun barrel, transmission, and electrical systems await use with those components in essentially a “zero-miles” state, and are kept in repair by a special mechanic company assigned to them.  That is most of them; the last such conversion was done in 1992, and in 2015 news footage an M44T was seen firing at Syrian positions.  It is believed that no more then 39 M44Ts are actually in active status.

     The original gasoline engine was replaced with a more fuel-efficient 450-horsepower MB-833 Aa-501 diesel engine, and the transmission was replaced in accordance with this new power pack and automatic instead of manual. An engine preheater has been fitted for starts in cold weather. The fuel tank size was increased, the electrical system was upgraded, and the gun was replaced with a NATO 155mm L/36 howitzer.  (This barrel length was basically a compromise between hitting power, range, and the balance of the vehicle The gun is seated in the chassis to allow for the increased recoil of the new gun and to lower the silhouette; the gunner is seated in the chassis to put him in line with the gun. The commander is in a manually-rotating cupola with all-around vision blocks, and there is one loader’s hatch on the opposite side from the commander, with no vision blocks.  As the loader’s hatch is much further forward than the commander’s hatch, the loader’s hatch has a Plexiglas windshield in front of it to keep splashing down when fording or in muddy environments. The driver’s seat has been reconfigured into a padded bucket seat which also energy-absorbent. This new seat and driver’s position in in the hull  instead of the turret.

     The electrical system has been almost totally replaced, and the driver’s instrument panel has been replaced. The suspension has new high-strength shock absorbers and torsion bars, and the track replaced by improved ones, and dust skirts installed. The new gun has new ammunition racks installed.  In the M44Ts still in active service, they have been fitted with a GPS system with a mapping module, and several small mission-use computers.

     Twilight 2000 Notes: 186 of these vehicles were converted beginning in 1986, and saw extensive service in Northern Iraq and Eastern Europe during the Twilight War. 

M52T K/M Obus

     Notes:  This is an upgraded version of the old M52 105mm self-propelled howitzer, which Turkey bought from the US in the 1950s.  365 upgraded were completed, starting in 1995. As with the M44T, the M52T is a cooperative German/Turkish upgrade.

     Improvements include the replacement of the howitzer with a 155mm L/39 NATO howitzer, based on the gun of the M109G SPA. in place of the former 105mm L/33 gun, replacement of the original gasoline engine with a 450-horsepower MB-833 Aa-501 diesel engine; the transmission was replaced in accordance with this new power pack and automatic instead of manual. An engine preheater has been fitted for starts in cold weather. The fuel tank size was increased and the gun mounted in a larger turret.  Computer fire control is also added, allowing the crew to accurately fire if the target location is known; though this generates faster coordinates, the assistance of an FDC is still needed, or inaccurate fire will result (x4 scatter distance).  As the electrical system was not up to par with the new systems, this has been upgraded as well; the suspension has also been upgraded to allow the increased weight.  The higher power gun also required the addition of a larger recoil spade at the rear of the chassis, which must be lowered before firing of the gun.  Modified storage racks allow the M52T to fire more modern ammunition.  A Turkish-developed fire control system has been installed in the M52T.  Armor has been somewhat improved, specially on the floor. 4kW APU has been added for power-off operation. A GPS system and various small computers have been installed, as well as a small GP computer.

     On the right side of the turret roof is a manually-operated cupola for the commander.  On the left is a hatch on a non-rotating cupola for the driver; this hatch has a wide-angle vision block on the left, and three normal ones to the front. On each side of the turret is a large door, primarily for ammunition resupply, but also for crew and equipment entry. Unusually, the driver is seated in the turret basket; this allows the vehicle to have a smaller nose and allows for the new power pack, but takes some practice on the part of the driver.  (A vision block that always depicts a frontal sight picture helps.)  The turret has a limited traverse of 60 degrees left or right.

     Twilight 2000 Notes: 365 of these conversions were available at the beginning of the Twilight War.

*Hull floor and hull and Turret Roof are AV3.

MKE Yavuz

   In 2015, the Turkish and Germans got together and developed a large 52-caliber 155mm Howitzer, the Panter.  Though the Panter was used only in a limited role  for Turkish service as, while it has an 18-horsepower engine to slowly move the Panter into and out of position, this was far from a self-propelled system in the traditional sense; while it helped bring the gun into and out of action more quickly, it did not have the flexibility of a full self-propelled system.  On the other hand, the upcoming T-155 Firtina is a behemoth that is based on the South Korean K9A1, can take considerable punishment, has more advanced firing systems, it too lacks the flexibility of the Yavuz.  The Turkish Army, however, wanted to make a large number of their Panters mobile, so the heavy truck-mounted Yavuz was designed.

     The Yavuz is based on a German MAN 6x6 chassis; the Panter’s entire undercarriage is largely removed except for the part of the operating gear necessary to move the gun.  The gun is at the rear of the chassis, and fires to the rear, to a 60-degree arc in either direction.  The cab design, however, is by MKE, and includes room for all crewmembers, remote firing equipment, some personal gear, and a small space for a cot. (Essentially, the cab is a “double-double”: cab, both much longer than the MAN’s cab and wider.  The cab is also protected by a modicum of armor, as well as NBC Overpressure and an RWS above the commander’s seat.

     The Yavuz is equipped with a fully-automated gun and magazine control system, along with modern fire control equipment. The Yavuz’s gun is equipped with a semiautomatic loading system.  On each side of the gun is a magazine containing nine rounds; additional magazines are carried on with side of the truck, and can be echanged for a fresh magazine in about 5 minutes.  The entire Yavuz can be ready to fire within 60 seconds of pulling into a position (most of this time is spent verifying position before zeroing in on a target).  The Yavuz’s crew need not exit the cab to operate the gun, unless something untoward happens during operation or external reloading, in which case the two loaders would exit the cab.  The ordnance is 52-calibers long and tipped with a large muzzle brake, and has the shock absorbers and reuptake mechanism of the Panter.  Before firing, a large baseplate/spade is lowered at the rear. The Yavuz is capable of operating without an FDC or with one gun operating as the FDC with the rest of available guns conducting the fire mission, but current doctrine calls for the use of an FDC, which can provide more precise fire information. (In addition, several trucks also make up the unit, which tote ammunition.) The Yavuz does have a full GPS suite with a mapping module and a BMS, but the Turks do prefer to use dedicated FDCs (and it is not just the Yavuz, it is with most artillery that the Turkish Army uses), to ensure the most precise accuracy.

     Many experts have criticized for Yavuz as being upderpowered, having no armor around its gun, and for the vehicle being too light for the power of its gun.  Note that due to its design, the Yavuz is not capable in any way of fire on the move.

*This NBC protection is only for the cab; the rest of the Yavuz is considered Open.

**The AV3 protection is only for the cab; the rest of the Yavuz has an AVof 1, except for the floor, which has an AV3 through the entire floor.