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 crew were among the high priority design criteria. Tulpar is also fully networkable with the Altay MBT and other units. In its basic form the Tulpar provides protection against small arms, but it can be upgraded with composite armor that provides protection against 25 mm projectiles. 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 an 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.
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.
Variants
Tulpar IFV
Basic IFV model as described above.
Tulpar-S
First unveiled at IDEF 2015, the Tuplar-S is significantly lighter, shorter and narrower than the Tulpar. It is a multi-purposed vehicle platform which retains basic features of standard Tulpar-IFV and has been designed to be both a light and an amphibious platform. Like the Tupar IFV, the Tulpar has been designed to be modular and can be configured for a variety of roles with a variety of weapons platforms. In the weapons-carrying, ATGM-armed RCT configuration, the Tulpar-S features a three-person crew, with space for two dismounts. In its armoured-personnel-carrier version, the vehicle will also feature a three-person crew but with space for eight dismounts
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.
