Tulpar (IFV)

Tulpar is a Turkish heavy infantry fighting vehicle designed by the Sakarya based automotive manufacturer Otokar. The vehicle has been reportedly manufactured to augment Turkey's new generation Altay MBT in operations and to safely transport infantry to the front lines while providing fire support for other armored units.

Background
Even though the TSK has not formally posted an immediate requirement for a new infantry fighting vehicle, Otokar has started the development of Tulpar along with the Altay,. Indeed, Tulpar was designed by the same team that developed Altay. After a 3-year design and development stage, Tulpar was finally unveiled to the public in 2013 at the IDEF international defense fair in Istanbul.

Design
Tulpar was designed for the dual role of providing fire support to friendly main battle tanks and safely transporting troops in a high-threat environment. Resistance against IEDs, small mines and high ballistic protection for its habitants were among the high priority design criteria. Tulpar is also fully networkable with the Altay MBT and other units.

Protection
The basic composite armor of the Tulpar provides all-around ballistic protection against 14.5mm projectiles while parts with high-probability of attack provide additional protection against up to 25mm armor piercing rounds. Tulpar features modular armor. This allows the maintenance center to quickly swap any damaged armor panels and also makes the IFV easily upgradable for added protection against higher caliber projectiles. Export customers of Tulpar can decide on what level of protection is desired based on their specific threat environment, terrain and IFV configuration.

Otokar plans to install a hard kill system on the future variants of Tulpar. The vehicle is fully NBC protected.

Mobility
Tulpar is powered by a 810 hp, 15.7-liter, water-cooled V8 diesel engine that is turbo charged and drives a 32-speed automatic transmission. Suspension comes standard with a hydraulic damper and can carry up to 45 tons on the hull. Tulpar's maximum speed is 70 km/h and economic range is 600 km.

Armament
Otokar's Tulpar is fitted with the MIZRAK turret system armed with a 30mm dual-fed automatic cannon and a 7.62mm coaxial machine gun. MIZRAK turret will be eqquiped Umtas anti tank missile.

Situational Awareness
Tulpar's crew enjoy full 360-degree day/night situational awareness thanks to an array of electro-optic sensors located on the Hull and Turret.

Production
Tulpar has not yet entered serial production.

Operators

 * 🇹🇷: Turkish Armed Forces is expected to initially order up to 400 vehicles to augment the first batch of 250 Altay main battle tanks pending the evaluation trials of the IFV.

Potential operators

 * 🇦🇿: Azerbaijan Army has expressed interest in the Tulpar IFV.