MKE 120 mm gun

MKE 120 mm L/55
Type	Smoothbore tank gun
Place of origin	Turkey
Production history
Designer	Hyundai WIA Otokar
Designed	2016
Manufacturer	Mechanical and Chemical Industry Corporation
Specifications
Mass	Gun barrel: 1,324 kg (2,919 lb)[1] Gun mount: 3,103 kg (6,841 lb)
Length	6.6 m (22 ft)[1]
Barrel length	55 calibers
Caliber	120×570mm
Rate of fire	6 rds/min
Effective firing range	APFSDS-T: 3,000 meters (3,300 yd) TANOK: 6,000 meters (6,600 yd)

The MKE 120 mm gun is a Turkish 120 mm 55 caliber smoothbore gun based on the CN08 120 mm gun produced by the Turkish company Mechanical and Chemical Industry Corporation, used on the Turkish Altay tank.[1] The 120-millimeter (4.7 in) gun has a length of 6.6 meters (22 ft). The gun can fire ammunition with high muzzle velocity, and is made of chrome-plated "special steel".[1]

Background

The MKE 120 mm gun was produced by transferring CN08 120 mm gun production technology from Hyundai WIA in South Korea through the Altay tank development project from 2008 to 2015.[2][3][4][5] MKE modified the design per Altay requirements and produce the gun under license.[5]

The design of the tank gun is the same as CN08, but there are two differences: unlike CN08, thermal sleeve is equipped with static muzzle reference system (SMRS), and Altay's turret does not have breech opening motor and automatic feeding magazine system for autoloader mechanism, so ammunition can only be loaded manually by tank crew and can fire up to 6 rounds a minute.

Ammunition

The gun can fire various types of tank ammunitions including MKE made APFSDS-T, TPCSDS-T Training and High Pressure.[6] The gun is also able to fire Roketsan made TANOK gun-launched 120 mm laser guided anti-tank missile with range of 1-6 km.[7] The tank gun might be able to fire 120×570 mm NATO tank ammunition.

See also

• CN08 120 mm gun: South Korean 120 mm 55-caliber smoothbore gun developed for K2 Black Panther main battle tank.

Weapons of comparable role, performance and era

• L11A5 120 mm rifled gun: British rifled equivalent, developed by Royal Armament Research and Development Establishment (RARDE) in 1957.
• 2A46 125 mm gun: Russian 125-mm equivalent, developed by Spetstekhnika Design Bureau in 1960s.
• Rheinmetall 120 mm gun: German equivalent, developed by Rheinmetall in 1974.
• CN120-25 120 mm gun: French equivalent, developed by Établissement d'Études et de Fabrication d'Armements de Bourges (EFAB) in 1979.
• EXP-28M1 120 mm rifled tank gun: Experimental British weapon of the late 1970s/early 1980s. Was to have equipped the MBT-80.
• CN120-26 120 mm gun: French equivalent, developed by EFAB in 1980s.
• IMI 120 mm gun: Israeli equivalent, developed by Israeli Military Industries in 1988.
• OTO Breda 120 mm gun: Italian equivalent, developed by OTO Melara in 1988.
• L30A1 120 mm rifled gun: British rifled equivalent, developed by ROF Nottingham in 1989.
• JSW 120 mm gun: Japanese equivalent, developed by Japan Steel Works in 2008.
• 2A82-1M 125 mm gun: New Russian 125-mm equivalent, developed by Uralvagonzavod in 2014.

References

1. "ALTAY WEAPON SYSTEM". TURKISH DEFENCE INDUSTRY PRODUCT CATALOGUE. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
2. Hyundai Rotem (31 July 2008). "터키 전차개발 기술협력 계약 체결". Hyundai Rotem. Archived from the original on 10 October 2021. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
3. Kim Gwigeun (11 October 2009). "'흑표' 기술수출료 2014년까지 사용유예". Yonhap News. Archived from the original on 10 October 2021. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
4. Choi Seunguk (20 October 2014). "[방산업계 울리는 ADD] 터키 수출 K-2전차 기술료 다 챙겨…'700억 돈잔치' 벌이겠다는 ADD". Korea Economic Daily. Archived from the original on 10 October 2021. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
5. Army Recognition (1 October 2021). "Altay MBT Main Battle Tank". Army Recognition. Archived from the original on 24 October 2021. Retrieved 24 October 2021.
6. "TANK AND HOWITZER AMMUNITION". TURKISH DEFENCE INDUSTRY PRODUCT CATALOGUE. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
7. "TANOK 120 MM LASER GUIDED MISSILE". Roketsan. Archived from the original on 10 October 2021. Retrieved 10 October 2021.