The Latest in Tank Design: PL-01 Light Tank

As many countries have done recently, Poland announced in 2013 that it had started to develop a new tank model of its own. The design that emerged as a result of these studies was produced as a prototype and it was announced that mass production would start by the end of 2010s. It is understood that the design, called PL-01, takes some features from Russian and Western tanks. However, it has some innovations that exceed them.
The tank is similar in appearance to some of the German and French new design tanks. Its angular shape provides protection against conventional RPG anti-tank weapons. This also makes it difficult to see on radar.
Equipped with the latest technologies and covered with ceramic plates, the tank's armour is resistant to all types of mines, explosives and shrapnel fragments. It is also equipped with an active protection system against anti-tank weapons.
The cannon of the tank is available in two versions, 105 and 120 millimetres. The tank is also armed with a 7.62 millimetre machine gun, a 12.7 millimetre anti-aircraft machine gun, a 40 millimetre automatic grenade launcher and two smoke mortar blocks, each firing four rounds.
The tank has an automatic loader. In this way, the tank crew is reduced to three people. However, the tank has an important difference from similar tanks of other countries with three crew members. There is a compartment in the rear of the PL-01's hull that can fit four soldiers. In some videos, it is said that this compartment holds one person, but this is not true.
In this form, the tank resembles armoured combat vehicles rather than a main battle tank. In fact, the design of the tank was based on the Swedish CV-90 armoured combat vehicle. For this reason, the tank is quite light. It has a combat weight of only 35 tonnes. In other words, it is not a classic main battle tank, but a light tank.
Another difference of the PL-01 from tank models developed by other countries is that it is equipped with a coating that absorbs radio waves and a thermal camouflage system. Thanks to the thermal camouflage system, the tank can hide the heat it emits. In addition, it can change its thermal signature and emit as much signature as a car. Thus, the tank is more difficult to be seen by radar and electro-optical detection devices and it is difficult to detect that it is a tank.
This technology has been used in aeroplanes for a long time. The British, who wanted to apply this technology to tanks, made trials and succeeded. Since this tank is a joint British-Polish structure, the invisibility technology applied in PL-01 is also the technology developed by the British.
Since the target detection and targeting technologies of new anti-tank systems are based on infrared systems, it is thought that PL-01 will be a difficult tank to hit thanks to this technology. In fact, the tank's silhouette is small and its speed is quite high, making it difficult to hit. The tank has a 940 horsepower diesel engine. Its maximum speed is 70 and its range is 500 kilometres. It is 7 metres long, 3.8 metres wide and 2.8 metres high.
This information shows that the tank is a highly advanced design. However, the tank, which was last announced to be produced in 2022, has not yet started mass production. However, it is certain that many innovations have been developed during the production and testing of its prototype.
In recent years, a wide range of new technologies have been developed, from new generation anti-tank weapons to drones and UCAVs, which we can define as the enemy of the tank in the battles that have taken place in recent years. Since these are used in combination with simple old anti-tank weapons, mines and IEDs, the battlefields have turned into a death trap for tanks.
As a matter of fact, in the ongoing Ukraine-Russia and Gaza wars, a new weapon, technology and their tactical and technical use are being developed every day, resulting in the neutralisation of many tanks.
Closely following these developments, every tank-producing country is continuously improving its tank technology and designs in line with the emerging developments. This development is so rapid that a tank design may become obsolete even before it reaches the production stage. As a result, either the design is changed or new designs emerge. It is an inevitable necessity for those producing our Altay tank to follow these developments and work on the necessary changes.